COTA: Dark Empress Rising
by The Chaotic Good
Summary: Alternate universe to COTA. FOR ALL COTA FANS . The Amazons and Bladebreakers are back in a AU fourth insertion. What if TS didn't happen?. An old enemy is back and he's willing to do whatever necessary to get what he wants.
1. Goodbyes

**COTA: Dark Empress Rising**

_Chaotic G: PEOPLE!  The long awaited AU COTA fic has arrived in all of its hopefully shining and anticipated glory!  Let's get things rolling shall we?_

_            The basic plot's been explained before BUT for those of you who missed it I'll explain it now.  This is a very Tala/Vega centric plotline and it's sort of a 'what if TS never happened?' thing.  Vega feels that she needs closure with Tala so she heads off to __Russia__ to look for him.  BAD IDEA!  Because out there lurks an old foe who's seen Kaosu's power and longs to wield it… surprising?  No, but interesting nevertheless._

_Side note: Yo guys, I might not update as fast as Exodia does.  Every week at best.  I'm juggling both a Trigun fic (which I was committed to long before this came up) and an original fic (which I was committed to even before I was committed to the Trigun fic).  So y'all are gonna have to sit tight and be patient while I do my best to balance them all.  The original fic is priority, however so if I don't update for a few weeks don't whine. _

            In three years a lot of things had changed between the Amazons and Bladebreakers.

            Takara and Kai had broken up, realizing that they were better off friends, and very close friends they stayed.

            A similar story when for Charly and Rei.  The two had grown apart from one another and mutually agreed that they were best off just friends.  Neither had to speak it.

            The friendship/rivalry between Kai and Charly escalated.  They seemed to trust completely in one another but they were constantly at odds and ceaselessly had ego wars, which could rage for hours depending.

            But everyone knew that it was all in good nature and that the two, like it or not, would have to face the obvious _someday_.

            Things were relatively normal again.  It took a good six months after the world tournament for everything to go back to normal, or as close to normal as it'd get, but things still hung in the air.

            When Vega boarded the flight home from Germany with the others she wondered deep down inside if she was doing what was right by just leaving Tala.  She was mad at him, yes, but the anger was ebbing away to another emotion.

            And two years later when she sat on the patio of the Deamen manor she was sure that she had made a mistake.

            "Charly?"

            The brunette glanced over at her friend, who was sitting on the patio railing, from where she lay on her lounge chair.  "What, Vega?"

            "Would you think me insane if I said I wanted to book a flight to Moscow?"

            Charly raised an eyebrow as she sat up.  "Depends… why would you want to go there?"

            Vega tucked some platinum bangs behind her ear.  "I got to find him, Charly."

            The Amazon captain frowned at her friend, worry settling in.  "He's not worth it, Vega… you know he's not."

            "No I don't, Charly," Vega argued, shaking her head fiercely.  "He _is_ worth it… he was a different person near the end of our partnership… humanity's already abandoned him… I can't do that too."

            Charly smiled at the ground.  "You're a more forgiving soul than me, Vega… just one question."

            "Hmm?"

            "You got to tell me honestly… what do you feel about him?"

            There was silence between them for some time as the girl tried to search for the right answer.  "I don't know, Charly… but I think I will when I see him again."

            The brunette nodded.  "I understand… so… you're going to go look for him… how do you plan on finding him?"

            Vega removed Kaosu from her pocket.  "Kaosu can lead me to him… I have a feeling that he wouldn't stray far from what he sees as his home."

            Packing was more of a chore than anything.  Vega had to dig out warmer clothes that she hadn't touched in a while from the bottom of her closet and then toss them from her closet to Charly, who was waiting to fold them on the bed.

            Lilly, Hikaru, and Takara were too busy playing with the mini basketball and hoop, which hung on her door.

            "So, how long do you plan to be gone?" Takara asked, as she threw the ball to Hikaru, who went to toss it in the hoop but it was caught by Lilly.

            "Maybe a month, tops, I'll call you guys every few days."

            "Cool, so you're gonna go after Tala?  Bold, sister, bold," Hikaru said, throwing her onto the bed.  "Kai's got his undies in a bunch over it, ya know."

            Vega shrugged a she yanked a leather coat down from a hanger.  It was lined with rabbit's fur, a gift a few birthdays back.  She threw it to Charly, who caught it quickly and placed it carefully in the large duffle bag.

            "If I cared what Kai thought I wouldn't be going, but I don't," the dark-haired girl replied.  She sighed and looked to her friends.  "Do you guys think I'm crazy?  For doing this, I mean?"

            "Look at it like this," Lilly said as she tossed the plastic basketball into the air and caught it.  "If we thought that this was dangerous for you in anyway we'd stop you in a second.  Whether you're crazy or not we understand that you have to do it and we're not going to interfere."

            Vega smiled.  "Thanks."

            Vega lay up in her bedroom beneath the sheer canopy of her bed, staring at the stark white ceiling and cuddling a wolf plushy and clutching a worn piece of paper in her hands.

            Across the room, pinned to the wall, was a single dried rose.

            _I miss you, Tala,_ she thought, clutching the stuffed animal closer to her as she curled up more into a ball.  She blinked a few times to banish the forming tears and sighed quietly.  _If I could just know where you were… and know that you were alright… I wouldn't have to do this… but I need to know… I need to make sure._

            "Vega?"

            The girl snapped out of her reverie and sat up to face the maid that stood in her doorway.

            "That boy… Chase, I think his name was, called… would you like to pick it up or should I tell him that you're not here."

            "No, it's alright, I'll take it."

            "Very well, miss."

            The maid vanished and Vega reached over for the phone on her bedside table and turned it on.

            Downstairs Charly picked up the phone to listen in and a frown appeared on her features as Vega apologized to the boy she and the others had set her up with a few days before.

            _'I'm not up for another date, I'm sorry… I'm going to __Russia__ and I can't see that this might be going anywhere.'_

            The call ended quickly with Chase sounding a bit disappointed but not much and Charly sighed as she dropped the receiver back onto the cradle.

            "How'd that go?" Hikaru asked from the living room door.

            "Bad… another guy strikes out.  You'd think she was going for a record or something," Charly muttered back.

            "I told you it wouldn't work.  She's so… I don't know… attached to Tala, whether she admits that or not, we can't change her mind.  That's why she's going to Russia, you know."

            "I know but she can get _so_ much better than him, Hikaru, I hate just watching her waste away like this.  When she goes out anymore with us it's just to dance.  She won't even _talk_ to _any _guys.  It's not healthy," the Amazon leader replied, crossing her arms.  "She keeps saying that she can change him but people like that don't change."

            Hikaru smiled.  "What about Brian and the others?  They've domesticated rather well I must say."

            "They gave up loyalty to Boris a _long_ time ago though… as soon as the Abbey was shut down they realized the truth… Tala's clung to it for too long.  Vega could be _the_ angel of mercy and still couldn't give him what he needs."

            The dark-haired girl shook her head as she reached out and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.  "Look… Vega knows what she's doing… and she's doing what she wants to… we should just be happy for her."

            Charly sighed.  "I guess… I just worry.  I've just got a bad feeling about her going there."

            He wondered if she thought about him, if he haunted her thoughts as much as she haunted his.

            Did she wonder where he was?  Did she care?

            Or did she forget him like a bad dream and move on?

            Tala sighed.  He'd been living a meaningless, monotone existence for the last three years since he fled Germany to get away from everything he'd done there.  He lived in Moscow in the loft of a house owned by an elderly woman who had hired him as something of an errand boy seeing how she could do very little on her own.  The woman treated him like a son, which made it possible for him to have a semi-decent life.  Even if his pride didn't allow him to completely leech off of her and he worked odd jobs, which normally consisted of some sort of manual, physical labor, to get by.

            "Tala?"

            He glanced at the door and sat up.  "Yeah?"

            A young woman stepped in and smiled at him.  "You received a phone call a few minutes ago.  The girl on the phone told me just to write down the message.  Here you go."

            He took the offered slip of paper and eyed her momentarily.  Her name was Ashlynn, the old woman's American niece.  She was snoopy, annoying, stupid, and most of all, irritatingly keen on him.  "You can go away now," he said gruffly.

            She smiled, turned and left.

            Tala glared as she went and then unfolded the note.

            _Vega heading for St. Petersburg, will arrive early on 15th._

            A small smile broke on his features.

_Flashback_

            "Tala!"

            The Russian paused just as he was about to walk into the plane terminal and turned to find Cleo approaching him quickly, surprisingly not flanked by Brian, who usually shadowed the girl.

            "What do you want?" he growled, eyes narrowing coldly.

            "Easy!" she piped, holding her hands up defensively.  "I just wanted to talk to you."

            "My plane leave in five minutes… you have two."

            The girl rolled her eyes.  "Look, I know you're determined to go all 'lone-wolf' on us but I also know that you'll eventually get around to coming back… so until then why don't I keep track of things for you."

            "Like?"

            "I don't know… like tournament outcomes, activity, God knows there's never a slow day when any one of us is involved… Vega."

            The option was appealing.  But he couldn't trust it.  "You're saying you'd spy on her for me?  Why?"

            "I know you care about her, whether you admit that to yourself or anyone else and since you're determined to run away from all of this instead of facing it I'm willing to keep tabs on her for you," Cleo replied, prodding his chest with one finger as if trying to emphasize her point.  "Keep in touch with me through letters until you find somewhere semi-permanent to stay and then I'll call you.  I can wire you money too if you want."

            "No, I'll handle money on my own."

            "Are you sure?"

            "Yeah.  I have to go now."

            "Alright, see you, Tala."

            "No you won't," he mumbled to himself.  "At least not any time soon anyway."

_Fin. Flashback_

            Tala leaned back against the headboard of his 'bed', which was more like a lumpy sack on a squeaky, uncomfortable wood frame.

            _What are you doing, Vega?_ He thought.  _Are you coming to dig me out of my hole?  Finally?  God… I can't wait to see you again._

            He slipped small, silver locket from beneath the collar of his shirt and opened it.  The lock was flat and oval shaped and very small to be inconspicuous and inside there was a picture of Vega, smiling happily.  Cleo had sent the picture to him as a gift after he'd found his semi-permanent 'home' and the old woman who took care of him had given him the locket so he could always keep who he loved "close to his heart".

            The old woman had promised that Vega would come back to him someday.  She said that it was 'woman's intuition'.  He hoped to God that she was right.

Obsessions were supposed to be unhealthy.  But the only thing that kept him functioning was his obsession.

            Was it so wrong to love her?

            "See you soon you guys, I'll be back before you can miss me I swear," Vega said, laughing as she hugged her friends good-bye in front of the plane terminal.

            "Have fun and be safe," Lilly said, smiling.

            "Call me every other day or I'll have the army looking for you," Charly joked.

            Vega laughed.  "Alright," she replied, nodding as she hugged Max and Tyson.  "I'll talk to you soon, guys."

            "Yeah, alright," Tyson said and then he glanced toward Kai, who was standing off from the group a bit with his arms crossed.  "C'mon, sourpuss, aren't you going to say good-bye or are you just going to stand there all day and pout?"

            Kai gave him a freezing glare as Vega neared.  "Look, Kai, I know you think I don't know what I'm doing but I do… you and him aren't so different you know?"

            "Just be careful," he muttered.

            She nodded tentatively, reached out to sisterly squeeze his shoulder, and turned away from him again and headed for the terminal.

            _Alright, Red, I've given you enough of a head start…no more games._


	2. Enemies Are Everywhere

**Chapter 2**: Enemies Are Everywhere

Chaotic G.: Hey people . Thank you for wonderful reviews. Um… I don't own Beyblade?

Chap summary: Kai has a disturbing dream, Vega receives a gift from an unnamed giver, and Tala takes up stalking.

Kai sat up quickly in bed, breathing hard, hands gripping the sheets next to him.

What a nightmare

The first he had had in a long time.

Flashes of the Abbey he knew from the past; the long, dark hallways of cold air and the silent screams of tortured souls, the labs, and the cells.

Then the image of Vega with empty, soulless eyes, laughing darkly as the silhouette of someone familiar but unrecognizable behind her, a hand upon her shoulder, as Kaosu floated in the background, bright, scarlet eyes matching those of the unknown figure.

The dragon's and the girl's images faded, as did the shadow's, but the red eyes of the figure remained.

Black-Dranzer sat on his bedside table glowing softly but it went unnoticed by the boy, who was trying to sort his dream out.

Perhaps his paranoia had triggered it. Charly's mentioning of a bad feeling she was having replayed over in his head.

_"I just don't like it, Kai… it's like there's this feeling in my gut telling me that something's going to happen… maybe I shouldn't have let her go."_

"Is there something wrong? I heard you struggling in your sleep and decided to check on you"

Kai looked up to the tall, spindly figure of the butler, Bartholomew, standing in the doorway and then shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Would you like some water perhaps?"

"Sure."

"Very well, sir."

The Abbey.

Vega's 'dark-side'.

_Those eyes._

What'd it all mean?

"Good morning, Kai!" Mai, the cook, greeted the boy happily as he stepped into the kitchen, running a hand back through his hair.

"It's about time you woke up, sleepyhead, it's almost eleven," Charly said as she placed two large plates of waffles on the table; Tyson and Max, who had already arrived there, practically jumped on the plates before Hikaru or Lilly could get to them.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you were sick or something, man, I mean, you not up before dawn? It's unheard of," Tyson teased through a mouthful of breakfast.

"I had a rough night," Kai muttered.

The nightmare had prevented him from sleeping soundly. The images kept coming back; sometimes just Vega, sometimes just the Abbey, sometimes just that shadowy 'somebody' in the background with those eyes glowing creepily out from the darkness that shrouded their owner.

"Insomnia?" Max asked.

"Something like that," he muttered, sitting down at the table.

Charly smiled as she sat down across from him. "Well, Vega called a little while ago saying that she landed, but they had a hold up on her luggage and she sounded sort of irked."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to be the airport attendant who has to deal with her," Hikaru said, stealing a waffle off of Tyson's plate and smirking triumphantly at him.

"Hey, that was mine!" he whined.

"So were the other four!" she shot back.

Kai watched them bicker as Max and Lilly stayed off on the sidelines, shaking their heads, and then picked up his glass of orange juice and headed out into the sunroom, which was only separated from the kitchen by another hall and door.

"You should eat _something_," Charly said from behind him, sitting a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast on the small coffee table beside his chair. "Preferably before the eggs get cold."

He glanced over at the food. The eggs looked slightly undercooked, the toast was a little singed, and the bacon was 'extra-crispy'. He smiled. Charly had definitely been responsible for cooking it. "Thanks."

The girl smiled but frowned a little at his troubled tone. "What's wrong, Kai?"

"I didn't get any sleep, I already told you that," he snapped and then realizing that he was being unnecessarily harsh he sighed and looked up at her. "I'm sorry."

Charly placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. So… are you going to tell me what's _really_ bothering you?"

Kai debated his choices. Should he tell her?

If he did then she'd possibly worry, even more than what she was, and no one would be happy until Vega got back whenever.

"It's nothing, just some stuff I got to figure out."

The Amazon queen nodded slowly, as if unsure as to whether or not accept that as an answer, and turned for the door. "If you feel like talking about it I'm here, alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem, Kai."

Vega sighed as she emptied her bag on her bed and then threw it on the floor. All the time she'd spent with the D-boys didn't teach her a word of Russian that was appropriate to use unless you really wanted to piss someone off so she was stuck with an interpreter provided by Mr. Deamen, who was one of the executive's interns was sort of like a personal assistant really. He would follow her everywhere, do whatever she asked (which hopefully included 'leaving' on command), and would keep track of the hotel billings, expenses, etc.

There was a knock on the door and the intern/interpreter walked in carrying a single red rose.

"Hey, Tom," she said. "What's that?"  
"Don't know. The clerk told me it was delivered and that I might as well bring it up, it had this with it."

He handed her the rose and a small white card. She opened the card and read to herself:

_"No matter where you go,_

_However far away, _

_A part of me will be with you _

_And a part of you, with me, will stay._

_The stolen kisses are always sweetest."_

For a second she stared and then closed it. "Tom… could you um… go order lunch or something?"

"Yeah, sure, what do you want?" he asked.

Vega shook her head so her hair fell down around her face and he couldn't see her eyes, which were burning with tears. "Doesn't matter, surprise me."

He nodded and left obediently.

The girl stared at the card and wiped at her eyes as she glanced at the rose, which was forgotten on the bed beside her. One, deep red rose.

"Oh, God," she whispered, biting her lip. _Thank you._

She wiped at her tears as she started to laugh.

Tom returned about twenty minutes later pushing a cart of covered dishes. "I wasn't sure what you'd want so I ordered a little of everything so you can try what you want, Miss. Vega."

The girl sat up and smiled at him brightly. "Thank you, Tom; that was very sweet of you."

The intern beamed and she helped him uncover the entrees and took what she wanted of them.

Vega's cell phone rang from across the room and she made a dash for it, lifting it up off the vestibule and flipping it open after checking the small LCD screen. "Hello, Cleo," she said knowingly.

"Close," Brian's voice rumbled on the other end and she laughed.

"Oh, so big bad Bry's working a phone now, see you _are_ becoming civilized! I'm _so_ impressed," Vega teased, sitting down on a cushioned chair near the window.

"Aren't we in a good mood," he replied, hitting the speaker phone and sitting back, Ian nearby to listen. "So… any progress on your Tala-hunt."

"Why, you got a bone to pick with him too?" the girl asked.

"I think I'd like to pay him back just a bit, yeah," Brian said, nodding.

Vega grinned and chuckled a little. "Hey Ian," she said, knowing the slight echo on the other end all too well.

"Hey," the shorter boy mumbled just loud enough for the speaker to pick it up.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to allow that, Bry, sorry," she cooed. "I've seen what you do to guys that you're 'paying back'. But as a consolation I will call your cell especially just to let you know first that I've found him."

"I'm touched, Vega, you're so sweet," he replied dryly, rolling his eyes, causing Ian to snicker.

"Mmm, I know, I try. So, is Cleo there?"

"No, she's out… I'll give you a guess as to where she is," Brian said.

"Hmm… would she be out _shopping_?"

"Indeed she would be, with Spencer."

Vega laughed quietly at the slight growl in his tone. "Spencer's a good guy, Bry, you should be happy that she likes him so much and not someone else who you'd have no control over."

"You forget, I can have control over anyone I want to," the lavender-haired man replied smugly.

She feigned a gasp of surprise. "How dare I so soon forget!" she chided herself playfully. "I should get going. Give my regards to Cleo and Spencer, tell her I'll call tomorrow again to check in, alright?"

"Yeah."

"Bye you two, behave!"

"See you, Vega," Ian said.

"Be safe," Brian commanded.

"Always, Bry. Give my regards to Cleo and Spencer and tell her that I'll call tomorrow to check in, alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Bye."

"Bye."

"Who was that?" Tom asked.

Vega closed the phone and smiled at him. "Some friends."

"And the rose? Where'd that come from?"

She glanced over at the flower, which was on the dresser in a vase now. "A very dear friend."

Tala watched from behind his newspaper as Vega made her way across the lobby of the hotel and he raised it to cover his face when she passed by and disappeared onto the street, the young man he'd watched bring her up the rose in tow.

The Russian rose quickly to his feet, folded the paper, and left it on the chair as he followed them.

Vega wasn't hard to follow. Being much shorter than most of the people around her she stuck out but was then swallowed by the crowd because of this; Tala had to remain close enough to follow but far enough away so she wouldn't see him.

Tala ignored the want to just reveal himself to the girl and instead followed her around the whole day while she went sightseeing.

She was a lot different then she was the last time they'd seen each other but he liked this Vega much more. She smiled and laughed a lot and looked perpetually happy.

"Even if she did come to find me," he murmured to himself, "would she be happy to see me?"

His jaw clenched as he watched that annoying intern return with coffee from some nearby shop.

Vega couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following her. It had started just outside of the hotel and continued to this point.

Kaosu wasn't hissing her warnings though, but that was because he had gone into a prolonged state of what he called 'hibernation'. He was still aware of everything but was asleep so he couldn't speak to her mentally. It was his way of giving her a break for a little while from him, which she was thankful of.

"Is there something wrong, Miss. Vega?" Tom asked, looking at the girl as she turned around and scanned over the people who were walking around and passed them

The girl sighed as she spotted no one. "No, I guess not," she murmured. She smiled at his worried look and placed a hand on his arm. "I'm just being paranoid again. Everything's fine. How long have we been out?"

He checked his watch. "Four hours."

She laughed. She hadn't even realized that they had been out that long walking around. "Let's get back to the hotel, alright?"

"Sure."

Vega slid out of the cab as Tom paid the driver and pulled her coat closer to herself.

She glanced across the street and she caught a glimpse of fiery red hair and she grinned a little to herself. "Tom, why don't you go in and order us dinner or something, I'll be right back."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" he asked watching as she jogged quickly across the street, waving to him over her shoulder.

Vega wove in and out of the crowd and turned a corner to find that whatever glimpse of red hair she had caught was now gone and she frowned a little to herself, walking a few more paces, and then stopping at the mouth of an alley.

"Quit deluding yourself, Vega," she whispered. "Why would he hang around?"

Tala watched from where he crouched above her head on the fire escape and sighed as she turned and walked away. "Because I can't get you out of my head… that's why I'd hang around."

He made sure that she was far away before descending from the fire escape and stepping back out onto the street.

His eyes met momentarily with a young man's across the street and his eyes narrowed a bit as the stranger smirked and walked off. He was thin and wiry, wearing a long, dusty brown coat over a pair of worn-out jeans, a black tee shirt, and another jacket of an olive green color. His black hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck and his long bangs hung in front of his yellow-orange eyes.

He disappeared into the crowd and a feeling of foreboding crept up on Tala.

_"Enemies lurk everywhere,"_ Boris had said once in a blurry memory, the details of which were hard for the young man to grasp hold of at the moment, _"don't let them get the jump on you. Trust nothing and no one… all threats must be eliminated before you can assume yourself safe."_

"We both know that I've never been one for feelings," Tala whispered to himself, "but I got a bad one about this… just take care of yourself, Vega."

The young man Tala had spotted across the street chuckled as he walked, turned a corner, and made his way down into the bowls of a parking garage.

Farthest from the entrance was a black vehicle sitting idle and the boy, shedding his coat, slid into the back.

"You weren't seen," the man beside him said, before barking something to the driver in Russian.

"No."

"Which one of them saw you, Misha?"

The boy cringed inwardly but knew that there was no point in holding up his rouse. "Tala, but only for a second."

The man grinned a little to himself. "He knew you were there the entire time."

"That's not possible," Misha said, shaking is head, watching as they pulled out onto the street.

"Oh but it is… Tala's a very _unique_ person. He knew that you were following him just like he was following the girl, but he didn't want to confront you in fear of blowing his own cover. Besides, in his perspective you were nothing but an annoying pest, he might've been curious as to why you were following him but brushed it off because his focus was consumed entirely with the girl."

"Who is she anyways?"

"Our target."

Misha blinked once and whipped his head around to look at the man beside him directly. "Her? I thought you wanted Tala! Isn't that why you had me follow him?"

"I had you follow him because I knew that the girl would be nearby," the man replied, pulling a file from a bag at his side and throwing it at the boy.

Misha flipped open the folder and inspected the contents.

There was an information sheet with the girl's picture stapled to it as well as several other sheets going into details about battles she had been in, weaknesses, strengths, and various other, often trivial, factors.

"Her name's Vega McLeod, one of the heavy-hitters in the world tournament three years ago… I showed you video of that, didn't I?"

The boy's mind reeled as he searched for the information.

He remembered her suddenly and his mind pieced things together in an instant. "You're after the dragon… her bit beast, aren't you?"

"I knew you were as smart as I trained you to be," the man replied, sparing a twisted smile and then redirecting his focus out the window in a somewhat bored fashion. "That dragon is the ultimate weapon… she and it just don't know that yet."

"Why don't we just steal the chip then?"

"We need the girl to control it. She's the sole person alive who can, he'll respond to no other master."

"What's Tala go anything to do with this then?"

"To you that's unimportant. I have my own reasons."


	3. Cat and Mouse

**Chapter 3**

_Chaotic G: Hey I already got a new chapter up! COOL!_

_Summary: Interesting events occur and as the cliché goes: "the plot thickens"._

_I need opinions though:_

_Who likes 'Dark Vega' over __Normal__ Vega? And preferably why. This is for my own personal reference, no explanation of why I ask will be further disclosed… _

"So?"

Misha looked up from the computer he was tapping furiously at to a young man standing in the doorway. His visitor was quite a bit taller than him, with silver-gray eyes and white hair, which was cropped to an inch in length and stood up like spines. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt under a dark brown trench coat, which brushed his knees, with a pair of heavy black boots and fingerless gloves. "He's not after Tala."

"I could've told you that."

The smaller boy looked disapprovingly at his comrade. "What do you mean, Kato?"

"Why would he want Tala when he knows that there are stronger bladers out there? And _you're_ supposed to be the genius… seems like you're all tactics and no common sense to me," Kato replied, shaking his head. "So who is it?"

Misha looked annoyed. "Do you remember all of those world tournaments he made us review?"

"Yeah, so?"

The boy stood up and strode across the lab to a TV standing in the corner. He grabbed up the remote, took a few steps back, and hit play.

A few frames were played and then the video was paused. A good half of the screen was taken up by a large, black dragon and the other was a committed to a still-frame of a teenage girl with long, black hair, white bangs, and dark, soulless eyes. The tails of her trench coat were being blown wildly back and her mouth was opened as if yelling a command. "Her."

Kato frowned a little bit. "Interesting choice."

"She seems pretty average to me."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to admit that she's stronger than you."

"She is not!" Misha protested, crossing his arms.

His friend smirked at him. "Does she intimidate you?"

"I could beat her if I wanted to."

Kato shook his head and stood up, snatching the remote from his comrade and pushing play.

The screen suddenly fuzzed as if the camera filming it was interfered with and there was an explosion of light that last a few seconds before fading. The picture soon recovered from the white-out and the aftermath was phenomenal. The entire dish was stripped down to that last layer of metal beneath it, the girl's partner, who they both knew to be Tala, and their opponents looked shocked.

"You could beat that?" Kato asked.

"He can't build a win solely on that attack. It drains her and the dragon too much, she could barely make it back to the bench," Misha argued, evading the question successfully.

The other boy lifted a hand to his chin and looked thoughtful. "Yeah, this is true… we should just see what's in store then shouldn't we?" He shrugged, tossed down the remote, and left the room, looking completely cool and unperturbed.

"Easy for you to say," the smaller boy grumbled, crossing his arms.

Vega had woken up to the sound of her cell phone ringing and she groaned as she reached over to the nightstand and checked the outside LCD screen.

She sighed and buried her face in the pillow as she flipped it open. "Charly, do you know what time it is here?"

_"Six-thirty,"_ Charly replied on the other end, mug of coffee held in her hands, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder.

Vega picked up her alarm clock with one hand and eyed it. "Well at least one of us knew, my clock stopped," she said, yawning and sitting up. "What's up?"

_"Nothing much, just thought I'd call to check in."_

"You know you can't lie to me, Charly… what's really up? Even people I hate know that I don't get up before ten. You had to have called for a reason."

Charly laughed. _"I can fool everyone but you."_

"The sad side-effect of spending about three-fourths of my young life so far with you, my dear friend; so, spill, what's got you calling me at the ungodly hour of six-thirty?"

_"Kai."_

"Oh, yeah, he's a good reason," Vega muttered sarcastically. "So, what's buggin' Wonder Boy that's buggin' you and now, inevitably, buggin' me?'

_"He's been acting weird the last few days."_

"And which part of that is supposed to surprise me, Charly? Weird and Kai might as well be side-by-side in the dictionary, screw alphabetization," the dark-haired girl replied, pulling herself out of bed and rifling through her clothes, which were now hanging in the closet.

_"Weird for even Kai I mean. He's been edgy and hasn't been sleeping since you left."_

"I'm touched, he must _really_ miss me," Vega said and grinned when her friend snorted doubtfully on the other end. "Charly, what do you want me to tell you?"

_"Why he's doing this! It's creeping me out. He hasn't even been yelling at Tyson."_

That made the Dragoness pause temporarily. "Yeah… that's weird even for Kai. The yelling thing is a daily ritual it'd seem. Well… has he said anything out of the ordinary? Like 'I wuv woo'?"

_"Vega, I'm amazed, you actually sounded serious for like two seconds there. You're not helping!"_

Vega laughed and flopped back on her bed. "Look, sister, Kai is Kai is Kai is Kai is Kai. There is _no_ figuring that man out, which makes worrying about him pointless."

_"I think he's worried about something."_

"Such as?"

_"I don't know. Oh well… I guess you're right, there is no point in worrying… how are things on your end?"_

Vega shrugged. "Fair I suppose. Brian called yesterday wondering if I had any luck with my Tala-hunting."

_"And have you?"_

"No… but there are two very distinct possibilities that have come to my attention. He's either very near or someone's trying to get some laughs."

Charly grinned a bit. _"What makes you say that?"_

"I received a rose yesterday from with an unsigned card attached… it's a repeat scenario of last time."

_"Aww, that's sweet."_

"Charly, stay with me, ok?"

The Amazon queen laughed and sat back in front of the bay window in the kitchen, overlooking the front drive. _"Fine."_

"I better not dwell on it or I'll get hopeful. How are you anyways?"

_"Worried… worried about Kai, worried about you, worried about Celeste. She's been giving off some pretty bad vibes__ lately and I'm wondering if Dranzer has been too and that's what's been bugging Kai… normally they're pretty in-tune with one another."_

"Well if Kaosu was awake to consult I'd ask him if he's felt anything up but since he decided to take a 'nap' for a while I won't. It's nice having my head to myself for once… though it's kind of lonely after all these years."

_"I should let you go then so you can enjoy some more 'alone' time in your head."_

Vega chuckled. "Alright, I'll call you again later, Charly, tell everyone I said 'hi'."

_"Will do, bye."_

"Yeah, see you."

"Miss!"

Vega, who had decided to go sight seeing a bit on her own without Tom, turned to an approaching clerk, who was holding a small card in his hand.

The clerk handed her the card wordlessly and she nodded to him and he left. On the card there was an address scribbled down and she grinned a little to herself as she realized that she knew that handwriting as she read the note.

"So you want to meet, you little rat," she whispered, scanning the address scribbled there, and then tucking the card into her pocket. "Yeah I didn't feel like playing cat and mouse much longer either."

"Are you sure she's going to come?" Misha asked, eyeing the much smaller boy in front of him, who was connecting some wires in a fuse box.

The other boy was quite a bit shorter than Misha, with narrow, neon green eyes, platinum blond hair, which was trimmed close to his head with long bangs hanging down spike-like in front of his eyes. He wore a black, hooded thermal sweater beneath a brown vest with olive green cargo pants.

"Of course-" he said.

"Now shut up, Misha-" a second boy put in, identical to the one in front of Misha, with the same platinum blond hair and green eyes, wearing a white thermal sweater under a black vest with white cargos.

"And quit worrying," the first boy, completely unfazed by his twin's sudden appearance, finished.

Misha looked between the two and shook his head. "I wish you two wouldn't do that."

"Do-"

"What?"

"Finishing each other's sentences."

The twins, who had both gathered around the same fuse box now, grinned and identical, Cheshire cat smirk and resumed working in perfect unison.

The black-haired boy turned to the doorway and, spotting Kato standing there, approached. "Why do _they_ have to be on this team?"

Kato laughed. "Jax and Zax? Because they're good… why not?"

"They creep even _me_ out," Misha replied.

His friend grinned. "Me too… but they're perfectly harmless, you know that. So is everything set up?"

"As soon as they get the lights upstairs to work right we should be on track."

"Good."

Vega's first step into the large warehouse echoed and she frowned a little as she looked around, seeing no one.

It was Tala's style but why would he want her this far away from civilization?

"Yo, Tala!" she shouted, stopping near the center of the empty building and crossing her arms. "You here?"

The floor creaked under her boots and the walls were cement, covered with dust, lined with windows along the top half of the building, which were so dirty they let in very little light and the large fluorescent bulbs above were quite necessary.

"Tala couldn't make it."

The girl looked up sharply and watched as a young man came in through a door near the back. Her eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't set a meeting he couldn't make."

"His plans changed," he replied.

Vega slid a foot back a little bit, preparing herself to turn and run. "I don't believe you."

The boy smirked. "Smart."

Her eyes narrowed and she turned immediately, heading for the doorway, but she found that it was being slid closed by an accomplice, a tall, white-haired boy and when she glanced back to the other boy he was suddenly accompanied by a pair of twins, who were looking smug.

Kaosu's presence flared through her suddenly and even though she could tell that he wasn't awake he was perfectly aware of what was going on and entirely unable to help her.

She threw herself to the right and sprinted for the door there.

Heavy footsteps followed her and just as she broke through the door into the alley a hand grabbed her roughly by the arm and another hand covered her mouth, pressing a cloth over her nose and lips.

Vega did her best to hold her breath but the fumes alone were noxious and she felt her body go limp and her vision tunneled.

The last thing she saw was a pair of cold, gray eyes and then black.

"Good job, Kato," Misha said as he watched his comrade lift the girl up into his arms. "Our ride's waiting out back, we have to go now."

Kato nodded and followed Misha, the twins in tow, down the alley and out the back.

Unbeknownst to the four a pair of icy blue eyes was watching them from around the corner and they narrowed, darkening dangerously.

_Son of a bitch,_ Tala thought, lunging as if to follow them but the fighter's cautiousness that was trained into him gripped and he drew in the details around him. All four of them had launchers tucked away under their belts, which meant that they all had blades. He realized that even if with Wolborg there was no way he could help Vega out. Four to one was not fair odds and he doubted that they were amateurs. They probably all had bit-beasts and no one without enough power to back up their plan would go after someone high profile like Vega.

So, he watched them disappear, hating himself every second he stood there inactive.

_Whoever they are and whatever reason they have for going after you, Vega, I will make them regret their choice._

"That's the third time she hasn't answered," Charly said, staring at the phone in her hand in annoyance.

"Maybe she turned it off?" Hikaru suggested from where she sat on the kitchen counter beside Lily, sharing a bowl of popcorn.

"When does Vega ever turn off her cell?" the Amazon leader asked, cocking an eyebrow at her teammate.

"Heh, guess you're right," the girl replied sheepishly, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth and then saying through it, "then I ain't got nothin'."

Lily laughed as she gave her friend a slightly disgusted look before turning back to Charly. "Could you get hold of Tom?"

The phone suddenly rang in Charly's hand and the girl frowned as she looked at it.

_"Tom!"_ she mouthed.

Hikaru scooted away from Lily, giving her an odd look. "That's just scary," she said.

The blonde girl laughed but both were brought back to reality when Charly's tone toward Tom sounded grim and very worried.

"So, you haven't seen her at all this morning?"

_"The desk clerk told me that she left early this morning and that was the last anyone that worked downstairs on any shift heard of her,"_ Tom replied. _"She left a note on her bed but it's already passed five and I'm starting to wonder."_

"Alright… well, if she does show up then call me… if not, then would you call tomorrow sometime?"

_"Sure thing,"_ the intern said.

Charly hung up and bit her lip. "Tom said that the clerks haven't seen Vega since this morning when she first left."

Hikaru yawned. "She probably found some club or somewhere to go, Charly. We're all probably worrying for nothing. Now it's two in the morning, could we please end this Worrier-Anonymous meeting, shut off the damn phone, and go to bed?!"

"Just, one more call?" the Amazon leader asked childishly.

Her friend sighed and pushed herself off the counter. "One more, but then get your ass in bed."

Lily yawned as Hikaru walked out of the room and lowered herself to the tile floors of the Deamen's kitchen. "I'm going up too; don't be too long, alright?"

"Sure, Lil," Charly replied, dialing Cleo's number and lifting the phone to her ear.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey, Ian, could you get Cleo? I really need to talk to her about something," Charly replied.

"Yo, Cleo, phone," Ian said from the doorway of the living room.

Cleo was in the middle of fighting Brian for the remote, which the lavender-haired boy was holding above his head and clear out of her reach.

The girl sighed in defeat, whacked her brother upside the head in annoyance, and got up from the couch to retrieve the phone from the shortest Demolition Boy.

"Hello?"  
_"Hey, Cleo."_

"Oh, Charly, hey! Wait… what are you doing up so late?" Cleo said, grinning a little as she watched Spencer walk up behind Brian, snatch the remote from his teammate's hand, and flop down in one of the nearby armchairs.

A wrestling match soon ensued between the two, which was one-sided in Spencer's favor from the beginning.

_"I called Vega's cell three times today and she hasn't answered, which is weird because she knew I'd be calling again and she never turns her phone off. I was just wondering if you had heard from her at all."_

Cleo frowned a little. "No, she hasn't called-" she pulled the phone away from her ear-"Vega hasn't called right?"

"Nope," Brian grunted as Spencer held him in a headlock, "but she said she would yesterday."

"You didn't tell me she called yesterday!" Cleo shouted, looking peeved.

"Oops," he replied, but it didn't sound sincere.

The blonde girl grumbled in annoyance as she returned to Charly. "Are you sure she hasn't just gone off somewhere and forgot to bring her phone?"

Charly sighed. _"That's probably it but I worry. Celeste's been uneasy lately… and I think Dranzer and Black-Dranzer have been too because Kai's been acting odd lately."_

"Strange… well… I'll-" her cell phone ringing in the other kitchen cut her off and she scowled a little-"Ian would you get that?! Sorry, Charly, could you hold for a second?"

_"Yeah."_

"Damn phones always ringing," Ian grumbled, slamming the fridge shut and picking up the small, silver device. "What?"

_"Ian, where's Cleo?"_

The shortest D-boy just about dropped the phone. "TALA?!"

Cleo's eyes widened as she heard the yelp and she tore off for the kitchen. None of the others knew that she had contact with Tala, especially not Brian or Spencer, who were on her heels.

She slid across the tiled floor in her socks, stole the phone from Ian and then barricaded herself on the other side of the kitchen table from the three, of whom Brian looked most eager to get hold of the phone.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call my cell? I'll call you!" she shouted.

_"Shut up, Cleo… I'm not in the mood for lectures."_

"What are you talking about?" the girl asked, looking worried, holding Brian off with one hand on his chest.

_"Someone's kidnapped, Vega… I followed them as far as I could but I lost them."_

"What?!"

_"Let me talk to Brian, he's liable to be rational about this… I'd appreciate it, though, if you'd call Charly and let her know… I don't have her number."_

Cleo deftly handed the phone over to Brian, who was more than eager to take it, and returned to Charly. "I have a feeling that you're not going to like the latest news."

_Chaotic G: Ahh… the plot thickens… shifty eyes. Who is the mastermind behind Vega's kidnapping and why? Who are Misha inc. and what do they have to do with this? Find out next chapter of DER! If you hang around that long and don't get sick of this… _

_I know that some people don't read the AN's so I posted this again down here… you cannot escape!!_

_Who likes 'Dark Vega' over __Normal__ Vega? And preferably why. This is for my own personal reference, no explanation of why I ask will be further disclosed_


	4. The Enemy

**Chapter 4**

Chaotic G: Alright, this is important.  Listen up people: I need reviews for motivation.  C'mon.  Those of you who are reading and skipping out on even the shortest review possible cut it out.

            Charly swung open Kai's door recklessly and ran to his bed, practically jumping on him.  She had already woken up all of the girls in record time, who were now proceeding with the task of waking up the other boys.

            "Kai!"

            The boy jumped up, swinging a opened hand out in her direction but stopping it quickly before it could make contact, his eyes widening as he became entirely conscious.  "What the hell!  Charly, what's up?!"

            Out of panic for her friend she could ignore the fact that he was shirtless.  "Vega's gone!"

            Kai blinked once in confusion.  "What?"

            "She's gone!  Tom says she left this morning and no one's seen her since and Tala's contacted Cleo saying he saw someone kidnap her!  Lily's got Cleo on the phone downstairs still, c'mon!"

            "What?!"

            He was up and out of bed faster than lightning and the two of them were barreling down the steps, passing Hikaru, who was on her way up the steps carrying a habanero pepper in one hand and looking very perturbed.

            "Give me that," he snarled, snatching the phone away from Lily, who was attempting to calm who he assumed to be Cleo.

            "Cleo?"  
            _"Hey, Kai,"_ the blonde girl replied on the other end and before she could stop him Brian had the phone out of her hands.

            _"Kai?"_

            "Brian, give me the number Tala used, I want a talk with him," the blue-haired boy replied.

            _"Wish I could, he hung up after saying he'd meet us at the airport whenever we get in, said he'd know when we would arrive and the phone's number didn't come up on the caller ID, he has it blocked,"_ Brian replied.  _"I hope you didn't expect him to be easy to deal with in this situation."_

            "I never expect him to be easy to deal with in _any_ situation!" Kai snapped back.  "When are we meeting?"

            _"Cleo's already off making arrangements to fly to __St. Petersburg__.  We'll be there by morning, you?"_

            "About the same.  Give the phone back to Cleo, I'm sure she'll want to talk to the girls, I have things to do."

            Kai passed the phone back to Lily without another word and stalked out of the kitchen to meet the other boys who were lingering in the hallway, probably thinking it wisest to stay away from the emotional typhoon building in the kitchen.

            "Who do you think would've done something like that?" Rei asked.  "I mean… she's on one of the best-known teams in world and lives with a billionaire… it's not exactly tactical to abduct someone that well known."

            "I told her," Kai muttered resting his head back against the wall, "I told Vega that Tala was bad news but she didn't listen to me."

            "Kai, it's illogical to think that Tala would have anything to do with this!" Kenny piped up immediately.  "I mean… he did call to tell Brian what was going on.  _Brian_!  Why would someone like Tala call to tell what they'd done, even if he did hope that we'd think he was innocent?  He's not one to do anything unless it's for his own personal gain; kidnapping Vega goes against that completely."

            "Yeah, Kai, I mean… Tala's a little on the crazy side but this is Vega we're talking about… I don't think he'd do anything to hurt her," Tyson said, shaking his head and crossing his arms.  "It's got to be something else."

            Kai shook his head.  "People like Tala don't change… even if he was different three years ago he's had no contact with anyone to keep him that way… he's probably relapsed and he's got all of you fooled."

            "You're not being fair, Kai, you won't even give him the BOTD," Max argued, "just because you two are rivals doesn't mean you can blame him for _everything_ that happens."

            The boy scoffed in annoyance.  "You think what you want, I think what I want," he replied gruffly before shoving past the four of them and disappearing down the hall.

            "Why doesn't he just admit that maybe for once he's _wrong_ about Tala?" Rei asked , crossing his arms and frowning slightly in concern.

            Tyson folded his arms behind his head and sighed.  "Because it's _Kai_.  Look we shouldn't worry about old sourpuss when Vega's missing.  He can deal with his own issues by himself."

            Kato sat in the corner of a rather barren room, watching as the ebony-haired girl stirred in her forced slumber but did not waken.

            He had decided an hour ago that there was nothing extraordinary about her except the dragon she wielded.  But he had also drawn the conclusion that there as no way that this girl before him, as wonderfully meek and timid as she looked, could be the monster on the video tape he had reviewed a half-million times.

            The similarities were there but how could someone so plain be so powerful?  And someone so gentle appearing be so malicious?

            Vega shifted again and this time her eyes fluttered open and they met his.

            She was up and out of her bed faster than he could stand up from his chair and looking fierce.

            The likeliness was suddenly alive as her eyes shifted immediately from shock to anger and distrust and seemed to darken with this change.

            "Who the hell are you?" she growled.

            "My name's Kato," he said emotionlessly.

            "Where am I?"

            "I'm not to tell you that."

            The girl scowled at him as she looked down at her clothes, as if making sure everything was in tact.  "Alright, _Kato_," she said, spitting his name like venom, "why am I here?"

            "I'm not to tell you that either," the boy said, in an almost playful manner, letting go of his monotone for a second.

            Vega eyed her guest with annoyance, sizing him up.  He was a lot taller than her, maybe just a bit shorter than Spencer and less broad.

            She scanned the room and frowned inwardly.  The room was absolutely empty except for the chair he was sitting on and the small bed she had been lying in.  The walls were a sterile white and the floor cold cement.

            And suddenly something slammed on her and she immediately began patting at her pockets.

            "Where's my blade?!" she roared suddenly.

            "It's being held for you," Kato replied, crossing his arms.

            Her eyes narrowed at him and looked ready to say something when the radio at his hip crackled and he shifted his head a little bit, revealing to her a small earpiece he wore.

            "Right," he said briskly into the microphone clipped to his shirt.  His eyes focused on Vega.  "You're coming with me.  There's a situation concerning your blade."

            _Kaosu,_ Vega thought, suddenly very aware of the presence the dragon held in her mind.  He was very much awake and at the moment _very_ angry.

            Before she could fight or argue he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the door, which he opened with his card key, and then dragged her down the hall.

            They hadn't even gotten down the stairwell and Vega could hear Kaosu's thunderous roars, which seemed to shake the very foundation under her feet.

            Kato swung open a door and they were met with the sight of cowering scientists, sparking machinery, destroyed walls, a few inches of water, which rushed towards the now opened door and began flooding down the staircase, and a very, very irked appearing river dragon, which swung its enormous head around to eye them.

            _Mistress!_  The hissing voice within Vega's mind was, for the first time, welcomed as the dragon lunged at her and then circled her body once protectively.

            "Recall the beast!"

            The voice cracked like a whip through the chaos in the room and the hairs on Vega's neck bristled as she looked to a different doorway across the room and a man stood there in a long, olive green trench coat, boots that made a very noticeable 'thud' on the cement flooring, and a black shirt and jeans.  He wore a pair of goggles with red lenses and his hair was purple, slicked back from his face and was giving her a disturbing smirk.

            The girl's eyes narrowed as realization hit her.  She knew who this man was… and a sickened feeling suddenly grew in her stomach and writhed like a snake.  "Boris."

            "So you know me, Vega… good… then introductions aren't needed," the man said, crossing his arms.  "Tell him to return to his blade."

            "Why should I?" she growled.

            "If you don't then the consequences will be very great," he repeated.

            Vega paused, unsure of what he meant, but she decided that she didn't want to find out and looked to Kaosu.  _Go back… I can handle this._

            _I won't, mistress… I do not trust this human, he reeks of evil._

_            I'll be fine… just do it… you'll know when I need you._

            The dragon hesitated a second longer before he vanished from sight and his blade fell dead beside his mistress' foot.

            She crouched and picked it up before straightening and eyeing the man before her.  "You're the psychopath who ruined Tala and the other D-boys."

            "Psychopath?" he said, his expression mocking her.  "You wound me."

            "I'd believe that if you had a heart to aim at."

            This seemed to amuse him and his smirk widened into a grin.  "I can see why Tala liked you as his partner... you've got spunk."  He took a step forward toward her but just as he did she took one back.  "You don't need to be afraid of me, Vega… I won't hurt you."

            "I'd _love_ to believe that but I think I'd take my chances with a pit full of snakes over you any day," Vega spat back.

            "That can very well be arranged."

            She didn't like the way he said that but didn't let her concern show.  "Why am I here?  What do you want with me?  And if you think you can get to the boys through me you are _so_ dead wrong!"

            This also seemed to amuse Boris and the man chuckled as he crossed his arms and shook his head.  "I care nothing about them… they were failed experiments and they hold very little of my interest," he replied.  "Actually… _you_ hold my current interest… specifically your dragon."

            "What's Kaosu got to do with anything?"

            He smirked.  "I saw the world tournament three years ago… I believe you'll recall a certain semi-final battle… in which you destroyed an entire arena with a single attack.  I can honestly say that after seeing that… I was impressed.  Obviously you have a lot of talent… another reason why Tala picked you I'm sure."

            "Chaos and destruction… two of your favorite things huh?" Vega growled bitterly.  "You can forget it.  You're not getting your grimy fingers on Kaosu."

            "I have a feeling that you'll change your mind about that very soon," Boris said, "but let's talk somewhere a little more comfortable than this.  How about a walk outside?"

            "I have a feeling that I have no choice."

            He smirked.  "You catch on quick."

            The large "backyard" of the broken down, prison-camp appearing building was as sad and depressing as the inside.  The borders were lined with a high, electrified fence with barbed wire along the top and there were guard towards on the corners of the property and on either side of the front gate.

            There were arenas scattered about the disheartening yard and a large track that surrounded it.  Everything was about functionality.

            "So, how'd you plan on changing my mind?" Vega asked, glancing over her shoulder where Kato was lingering just out of her sight but still very much present.

            "You cooperate with me and everything will be just fine… argue… and your friends will meet very untimely ends… and believe me, I won't be going after them with beyblades."

            "What do you know about my friends?"

            Boris chuckled.  "What _don't_ I know about your friends?"

            The girl scowled at him.  "You're bluffing."

            "You can think that if you want, Vega, but do you really want to find out if I am or not?"

            Vega mulled this over.  Brian had told her about Boris before once when she asked, and she had been lucky to get a straight answer out of him.  Ian went quiet and would mutter something incoherent and Spencer, at the mention of the man's name, mysteriously went deaf.

            According to the lavender-haired D-boy Boris was a megalomaniac bent on achieving world domination and willing to do whatever necessary to reach his goal.

            She could make-believe that he wasn't capable of getting at the girls or the others all she wanted to in her head but that didn't mean he couldn't in real life.  Brian told her that Boris could live up to every threat he posed and wouldn't stand for disobedience.

            And that was all she had gotten out of Brian before he refused to talk anymore about it.

            "What do you want with Kaosu?"

            Boris smirked.  "Don't be absurd… this isn't all about him.  Since you're the only one who can harness his powers you're just as important to my plans.  I've just a few very simple favors from you," he said.

            "And in return I get what?"

            "Do everything I ask of you and your friends will come to no harm, I promise."

            "And what good are the promises of a snake?"

            "They're better than nothing.  Do we have a deal?"

            Vega looked out over the barren courtyard.  There was no way out of the place and no way to guarantee the others wouldn't meet trouble with a capital T without handing herself over to this 'man'… if someone so cruel could be considered a man.

Kaosu stirred within her at the surface of her being as she allowed for her heart to be hardened and her eyes to go blank.  The dragon would not be in control but he would help her when she needed it; and right now he needed to help her forget her morals and her loyalty.

            "Fine," she said bitterly, with a tone of finality.  "I'll do it."

            Boris placed a hand on her shoulder as delight played on his lips.  "Wonderful."

            "So that you are not in the dark or worrying as to what I intend to use you for I'll explain," Boris said as he briskly descended a flight of steps, Vega quickly at his heels.

            Her insides were twisting themselves into knots.  She had already pinched her arm into a lovely scarlet hue trying to wake up from this nightmare and was despaired to find it not working.  "How very decent of you," she replied bitterly.

            "Come now, Vega, we've on the same side as of ten minutes ago… it would do you good to view this in a positive manner."

            "Positive… do you even know what that means or is your definition of that word as warped as everything else seen through your eyes?"

            He paused in his brisk stride to whip around and look her in the eye, a frown setting itself firmly across his lips.  "You're growing quite tiring and I've never been known for patience," he growled.  "If you know what's good for you, you won't continue speaking to me like that.  Do you understand?"

            The girl regarded him coldly, lifting her chin at him in a defiant way as her eyes narrowed.  "I understand… though I've never been known to respond well to threats," she said coolly.  "What were you going to show me?"

            Boris eyed her for a second more before turning sharply back round and closing in on a doorway that led out into a hall.  They walked for a few more paces and then entered into a room, which was something like a library.

            Vega was surprised when her boot met carpet and her eyes walls that were not sterile, hospital white, but rather a dark brown that darkened the room by several notches.

            There was a large desk on the other side of the room on which a computer sat and on either side of which there were filing cabinets and behind this was a large set up of book-shelves.

            "Read this," he said, tossing her a vanilla-colored folder and then sitting back in his desk chair.

            Vega picked up the file and examined it momentarily.  "A tournament?"

            "It's not BBA sponsored… it's more like an experiment.  Some of the best and brightest beyblading stars from around the world gathered in the same place… they're set in a restricted zone where they seek each other out and blade for points.  Players with the lowest points at the end of the week are eliminated.  You pick your opponents rather than having them chosen for you.  Much easier for more tactical bladers to fight and win, wouldn't you say?"

            "Why haven't I heard of it?"

            "It's very hush-hush… no one's getting the invitations until tomorrow so no one knows about it.  I took the liberty of intercepting yours by the way.  I knew you'd be in Russia, not Japan, when they were coming out."

            She eyed him as she snatched the paper from his hand.  "How sweet," she drawled, examining the file and the paper in her hand.  "But I don't believe you'd go to all of this trouble just to win a tournament.  What's in winning for you?"

            "That's nothing you should be concerned about.  The prize will be well-worth the effort."

            "If this isn't BBA sponsored then very few, if any at all, of the normal teams will be there.  Some might be stronger.  How can you be so sure that Kaosu will be able to take them on?  I must admit that I'm not quite up to par… it's been a while since my last match."

            "He'll be ready for them… that is… if you trust me enough to let me modify him."  
            Vega scowled.  "Trust you?  All of the money in the world wouldn't help you to buy my trust… but what choice do I have?"

            Boris smirked as she removed the blade from her coat pocket and sat it on the desk in front of him.  Kaosu's chip glowed violently for a moment and then faded.

            _Mistress, is this wise?_

_            No, but what choice do I have?_

            Kaosu did not seem to agree but he allowed the man to pick his blade up and tuck him away in his pocket.

            "When will I get him back?"

            "You won't be long without him, I promise."


	5. Arrival and Discoveries

**Chapter 5**

A/N: Here's chapter 5 for your viewing pleasure. I'm sorry I haven't updated but I'm really trying to focus on finishing an original story I've been working on.

Chapter Summary: The group meets and the "investigation" commences. They receive invitations to a certain tournament and Tala and Kai make an interesting discovery which leads to revelation.

The rain outside when the plane landed reflected the mood of the group perfectly as now each of them had several hours to wonder and worry of what had become of their friend.

"This is ridiculous! It's going to be impossible for all of us to stick together in a crowd like this, especially since we have Mr. Wanders-off-everywhere here!" Hikaru said as they grouped together, glaring at Tyson, who gave her a puzzled "WHAT?!" expression. "How about Charly and Kai find Cleo and the boys and we'll go to the hotel and wait there?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Charly said, shouldering her carry-on bag and turning away from the others as she and Kai parted ways from the others.

"So… where do you think they are?" Kai asked as they walked, neither of them really sure where they were going.

"If I know Ian and Spencer like I think I do... the food court," the Amazon replied, brushing shoulders with someone who was passing by and then whipping around quickly to grab the back of their jacket as she felt a hand slip inside of her jacket pocket. "Hey!"

Instead of meeting the eyes of a thief who had just got caught she met the laughing gray orbs of Brian, who was holding up his hands defensively, in one of which he was holding her wallet. "Easy, Charly!"

"Brian!" she scolded, grabbing the wallet from him and smacking his shoulder. "Not funny!"

"I thought it was," he chuckled back.

"Someone's grown a sense of humor," Kai said, grinning a little.

"And someone's lost track of theirs," the lavender-haired boy replied and Charly smacked his shoulder again playfully. "C'mon. I'll take you to the others."

"Hey, Cleo," Charly said as the two hugged and then sat down. Both rolled their eyes as Kai nodded to Spencer, Ian, and Brian and all three nodded back. Communication often involved words but not for those four. A single nod could mean an entire breath of speech.

"Have you seen Tala yet?" Kai asked, folding his arms and standing just behind Charly's chair.

"I might've seen him earlier in the crowd but I'm not sure… the guy's a freakin' ghost," Ian grumbled, resting his chin on his palm. "He can appear out of no where and disappear without a trace."

"And whether you think so or not, I hear everything you say about me."

Ian fell out of his chair and Tala, who appeared behind him, laughed quietly and then focused his eyes solidly on the others present. "I see that I'm not too late for the party."

"How unfortunate," Kai grumbled beneath his breath and the two proceeded to glare at one another.

"Easy," Charly said, looking between the rivals and sensing amounting tension, "right now we're all on the same side… though it seems like you two still need to realize this."

"We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him," the Bladebreaker captain grumbled.

"How do you figure that?" Tala asked, eyes burning.

"Vega only went to Russia to look for you! It's your fault she went and it's probably you're fault she's gone!"

The red-haired Russian stepped nearer to his rival and grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Look, I'd never hurt Vega, alright?! She came looking for me, there's nothing I could've done to stop that! And if you really want me to say it, then fine Kai, it's my fault she left but never say I had anything to do with kidnapping her! You weren't there to see them carry her off!"

"You're right… I wasn't there to watch… but if I had been I'd of been trying to do something about it!"

The tension reached a breaking point but before it could come to blows Spencer and Brian stepped in and pulled the two away from each other. "Look, _children_," Brian growled, holding Tala by the coat collar, "Charly's right, we're on the same damn side here! We all want Vega back but the chances of that happening when you two are too busy acting like rivals is nil! C'mon, she's more important to both of you than a stupid rivalry and you know it. Now cut this bullshit out before _I_ make you."

"Ah, Brian, ever the gentle peacemaker," Ian muttered sarcastically, by now back in his seat. His friend shot him a glare and pushed the chair the shortest boy was sitting in over with his foot.

Tala and Kai broke away from the two restraining them as Ian let out a string of curses from the floor that went ignored.

"Whatever," the two said simultaneously and then proceeded to glare at one another.

"Now only if there was a way to make them realize how alike they are," Cleo sighed.

"Are you kidding? If you ever even said that to either of them they'd be so insulted they would glare you into taking it back!" Charly replied, laughing.

"So what's our plan?" Spencer asked, crossing his arms and forcing Tala to take his seat across the table from where Kai stood behind the girls. This placed the two facing each other, not the ideal arrangement, but at least there was a table between them.

"Tala will take us to the spot where it happened tomorrow so we can pick up whatever clues we might there and we can have Kenny try to put a track on Kaosu's signature," Kai started.

"We probably should also look into people who might've been keeping track of her arrival here, this was obviously planned," Cleo put in.

"Yeah but whoever it was probably didn't ask at the airport for her arrival time. I think it'd be better to look for places they could take her. We don't know who planned this but they likely have motives and means if they're willing to do something so drastic," Brian finished, looking solemn. "It's probably a good thing that we can safely assume someone took her for a purpose."

Charly cocked an eyebrow at him in surprise. "How's that supposed to be comforting?!"

"It means that they're not likely to have abducted her just to slit her throat," Ian explained for his friend, "that's what's supposed to be comforting."

Charly sat up late in the hotel suite's 'living room', staring at the television, which was turned off. A million thoughts were racing through her head, which turned into just a whirlwind of muddled confusion in her mind after a while.

"Charly?"

The girl looked sharply up to find Kai standing behind the couch, looking stoic but a hint of worry shining in his gaze. "Hey, Kai."

"What are you doing up?" he asked, moving to sit beside her.

She shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," she murmured. "You?"

"The same."

Charly nodded quietly and stared into the darkened room, appearing fragile and much smaller wrapped in her throw blanket, eyes overcast and face pale.

"Charly, I know there's something else wrong… I can see it when I look at you," the boy said after a long break in conversation.

"I'm worried about Vega."

"We all are… but I promise we'll get her back."

"That's not what I'm worried about," she murmured, chin sinking to rest on her knees. "I'm worried about what's going to happen to her before that. We don't know why they've done this, whoever they are… how can we be sure that they're not going to hurt her?"

Kai sighed and moved close enough to wrap his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as she hid her face in his shirt. "We just have to hope and pray that nothing happens," he replied. "I have a feeling that they didn't do this to hurt her. You don't want someone like Vega against you, we both know that firsthand, and we know that she would never take abuse of any sort from anyone. The person who did this knows her so they'd know that."

There was a long pause and then the girl spoke, her voice small. "Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay here with me tonight?"

The boy looked down at the top of her head, swallowed, and then nodded. "Sure, Charly."

She was asleep in a matter of minutes and when he considered just standing up and leaving her there on the couch, Kai couldn't do it and settled back into the cushions, running his fingers gently through her hair and looking out into the darkness.

He fell into a light sleep after minutes of quietly lounging and in his dreams figures and shadows danced. The identities of the unknown were never revealed but the girl who stood amongst them, eyes looking on mournfully, lips mouthing inaudible words, he knew and he knew well.

Vega.

And just as he came to this realization he woke with a start and was looking around the now lit sitting area. He glanced to the clock on the wall and cursed softly. Five-thirty. He looked to his side and found Charly gone but her blanket was gently laid of him and he sighed as he stood up, stretching. She must've woken before him and retreated back to her bed sometime in the earlier hours. He didn't mind all that much though, if one of the others, more so Tyson or one of the D-boys, had seen them together they'd never live it down.

"So you're awake."  
Kai glanced coolly to Tala, who was standing just out of his line of view by the window. "What are you doing here?"

"I knew you'd be the first one up," the redhead replied calmly, looking to his rival, eyes piercing. "I figured we could get a jump on things this morning."

"Where would we start?" Kai asked.

"Same place you're thinking we should start: her hotel room."

"What makes you say that I was thinking that?"

Tala smirked. "We may hate each other, Kai, but that doesn't say we don't think alike. Let's go before the others get up, it'll be faster with just the two of us."

"Someone's quick to change their tune."

"Don't get the wrong idea, Kai," the Russian said over his shoulder as he headed for the door. "My being civilized with you has nothing to do with a change of heart and everything to do with Vega. Although I do agree with what Brian said yesterday… now let's get a move on."

"She took her camera and her wallet," Kai said, examining the two items resting on the modest room's dresser. "She was going sightseeing."

"I figured," Tala replied over his shoulder as he examined some of the girl's belongings sitting on the bedside table. "But she went to a warehouse… what's that say about her motives?"

"Nothing I can see… though that is a good question. Maybe something changed her mind," the other boy muttered.

The redhead made his way back to the door and opened it. "I'm going to go talk to the clerk at the desk."

"You do that."

"She received a note that morning," the clerk said as Tala leaned over the desk. "We're not allowed to give information like that out to just anyone. How would you know her again?"

"Family friend," Tala replied. "I'm here just to check in on her."

"Ah," the man behind the desk said, nodding and then removing a slip of paper from a file. "Well, we do not have a copy but I do remember the man who dropped it off here. Young man, thin-faced with black hair and these what you might call 'piercing' yellow eyes. He wore some pretty beat up looking clothes and had the personality of a piranha."

"Alright, thanks."

Kai was already waiting in an armchair near the entrance. "So?"

Tala sighed, running a hand back through his hair. "Some guy leaves a message for Vega to meet him at a certain address, and she goes. The guy wouldn't leave his name though... and I think I know why." His rival raised an eyebrow as if signaling him to continue. "I followed her every time she went out for the last day or so. One time _I_ was being followed. Black-hair, yellow-eyes, same description as the boy who dropped off that note and the same guy who I watched help that other one carry Vega away."

"So, if we find him we find who's behind this?"

"You could try looking for him… but I doubt he 'exists' to any filing system we can get access to."

"Gah! I can't believe they did that!" Charly raged, crossing her arms and leaning against the cupboards.

"I can," Brian, who was sitting at the table with Spencer, Rei, Ian, Lily, and a half-asleep Hikaru, said, looking bored. "This is Kai and Tala."

"Which makes it even weirder," Ian put in. "It's bad enough they left without leaving a note."

"Tala left a note," Spencer interjected.

"Yeah, well not a very good one."

"But it was a note."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Technical," the shortest boy grumbled. "It's bad enough they left, leaving only a very crappy note behind, not telling us where the hell they were going… is that better?"

Spencer said nothing but grinned a little.

"Tala and Kai… you suppose one of them is dead yet?" Hikaru asked from her seat, taking a sip of her coffee.

"If so then I bet it's Tala," Brian said.

"I wouldn't put too much money on that, Kai's pretty tame now. Woe is the guy who gets in it with Tala… especially when all of this is happening," Ian replied.

"True," the lavender-haired boy agreed thoughtfully.

"Let's hope you're both wrong," Rei said, leaning his chin on his fist. "Charly, did you try calling them yet?"

"Kai has his phone turned off and if Tala has a phone I have no idea what his number is… besides, he'd probably hang up."

"Probably," Ian said, making a paper football out of a napkin and 'punting' it at Brian.

"Are you guys completely unfazed by this or what?" Charly asked, eyeing them.

"Hey, we can go out and do our own thing, we don't need to keep up with them," Brian replied. "We could wake up Kenny and force him into some research if that'll make you feel better. But they're probably doing everything we mentioned yesterday at the airport and they'll call us if they find out anything so there's no point in us going out to 'investigate'."

The girl sighed and leaned back against the cupboard.

"Charly," Lily started, frowning a little, "it's going to be okay."

Charly nodded and sighed. "I know."

"Hey, Charly, you might want to take a look at what your dad sent me earlier!"

"Sup, Kenny?" the girl asked, leaning over the back of the couch and peering over the boy's shoulder.

"Your dad faxed me some letters, check it out," he replied, handing over a few folded pieces of paper

"They're addressed to the Amazons, Bladebreakers, and Demolition Boys… it must be something from the BBA," she said, scanning the first over. "A tournament? I don't remember hearing anything about it."

Kenny shook his head. "It's not BBA sponsored and obviously it's _extremely_ hush-hush because these were hand-delivered to your father to make sure they got there, that's why you haven't heard anything about it."

"But what's it about?"

"Some corporation called BladeTech is sponsoring and setting it up. They won't give details on the prize and the people coming are from all over."

"So, will there be the usual teams?"

"I doubt we'd find the Majestics or any of our normal opponents. This isn't BBA sanctioned, meaning these people invited only who they really wanted to show up. There's probably going to be teams we've never heard of or seen there. It's not set up like a normal tournament either."

Charly scanned the paper with a frown and sat down. "Sort of freestyle huh? We can't waste our time with this crap, we have bigger things to worry about," she said.

"It's next week… think about it before you just say no. We can discuss it with Kai and Tala and the others later."

"You still didn't cover why she would've come here," Kai said as they stepped into the warehouse. "It'd take a bit more than some random guy sending her a note to meet them somewhere."

Tala folded his arms and looked around the empty building. "She might've thought it was me."

"She would know your handwriting though right?"

"She could forge it last I knew," the redhead replied, shrugging, "but so can Brian and Ian. Anybody could learn."

"Well… that fits I guess," Kai muttered, "if she thought it was you she'd go in a second. It won our mystery kidnapper her trust. Well, let's check the basement of this place out and see if we can't find anything else."

"Well, clue one that this place was abandoned… someone jimmied the locks on the fuse boxes to get the lights working again," Kai said aloud, pointing out the scrapes on the side of the box.

Tala 'hmmed' quietly at this but didn't seem very interested as he poked around the remainder of the very large basement area.

His eye caught on something a few paces before him and as he neared and bent to pick it up he called out to Kai, "I got something."

"What?"

"Looks like a radio," he said straightening, showing his rival.

"There's nothing special about it," Kai replied, examining the radio. "But we might as well take a look at it so let's get back to the hotel, I'm sure the others are up and pissed."

"So, why are we taking this apart again?" Ian asked, watching as Brian unscrewed the back of the radio and then pulled it off, revealing the wiring inside.

"Just out of curiosity, besides what else do we have to do? Listen to the others argue over that tournament?" Brian replied, raising an eyebrow and then turning back to his work. "Hand me a magnifying glass and a flashlight."

The shorter boy grumbled as he retrieved the two items from the dresser and brought them back to his teammate. "Why do you have those with you anyways?"

"I was planning on passing the minutes by trying to melt a toy army man with the flashlight using the magnifying glass but I didn't really have any time," the lavender-haired boy mumbled back. "Here, hold the light for me."

"You could've just used the microwave; you know it's impossible to do that with a flashlight," Ian countered.

"Yeah, but remember what Cleo did to us last time we did that? Besides, I said nothing about _intelligently_ killing time."

"This is true."

Brian nodded offhandedly as he pulled the chip out of the back of the radio and examined the wiring. "Why does this look so familiar?"

"I don't know you're probably just imagining it, you've taken hundreds of these things apart," Ian replied. "Can I put the damn flashlight down now? My arm's getting tired."

The other boy shook his head as he pulled at the wires. "This isn't like how everything else is wired… it's different. Look how it assembles."

"Every electronic device is put together differently," the shorter boy said, looking annoyed. He paused a second as Brian's eyes narrowed and his lip curled slightly. Something akin to hate ignited in his gray eyes and Ian took a weary step back. "Brian?"

A string of curses escaped the boy as he slammed the radio down on the desk and ran his hands viciously back through his hair as he ducked his head. "I know where I recognize that system from," he practically whispered, voice dangerously low and level, a tone he used when he was forcing himself to contain his anger.

"Where?"

"Take a look for yourself." Brian made a growling sound as he stood up and stalked out of the room cursing lowly in Russian. "Tala!" he shouted, making the walls seemingly quake and the loud 'discussion' in the other room fell to silence.

Ian glanced at the device and lifted it up. The outer shell was cracked in several places from the force with which Brian had slammed it to the table but that became of nil importance as the boy examined it and his eyes widened. "Shit."

"I hate it when they do this," Cleo hissed under her breath.

Kai, Spencer, Ian, Brian, and Tala were standing in a group near the door discussing, very loudly and rapidly in Russian, as the rest of the Bladebreakers and Amazons lounged around the living room, watching them, not sure if it was particularly safe to try and intervene.

"Do you understand _any_ of this?" Tyson asked, looking over to Cleo.

She sighed. "Nope… you'd think that after living with three of them for so long I would but nope."

Charly looked on, the muscles in her neck and shoulders growing tenser with every moment that passed with her just knowing something was wrong. Tala and Kai's voices had raised above the other three's and both looked angry. Tala's expression and evident irritation didn't surprise her, she always figured that he was quick on the temper, but the way Kai was practically shouting at times in the conversation made her stomach twist.

Then the first time Spencer raised his voice, which seemed to boom, made everyone jump. Whatever he said was sharp and quick and made the discussion hush for a moment. As he continued on the other four started arguing again and the battle recommenced.

"This is intolerable," Hikaru growled, having just about enough of it and lifting two fingers to her mouth. The whistle she emitted caught the Russians' attentions and they all simultaneously looked at her. "What the hell is going on that's got you five so damn worked up?! And why can't you discuss it in a language we all understand?!"

The five glanced between one another, each not looking willing to say anything at the moment. "It's hard to explain," Kai said uneasily.

"It didn't seem so hard when you were talking with them," Tyson countered.

Random agreements came from the others and Tala glanced to his comrades and then sighed. "We think we know who took Vega."

"We don't know anything yet for sure," Kai rebutted immediately, "there's no point in saying anything to worry them."

"They need to be aware of the possibility," Spencer argued.

"I'm with, Kai, we don't tell them anything until _we're_ sure," Ian put in, shaking his head and crossing his arms.

"We think Boris took her," Brian said bluntly, entirely toneless. The other four glanced to him and sighed. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

A/N: So there's chapter 5. Not really that bad of a cliffhanger, you guys already knew who it was. Anyways, again, I'm really sorry for the crappy updates.


	6. Brought Into Darkness

**Chapter 6**:

_CG: Alright, guys, this is important, listen up._

_I'm writing an original story, which I hope will begin my career as an author (meaning I really want to finish the damned thing so maybe I could get it published). The original story really means a lot to me and it takes priority over all of my fan fictions. BUT just because I'm so dedicated to my original story doesn't mean DER will go ignored or un-updated. It just might take a smidge bit longer (not that you guys don't already wait a long time in between)._

_-I'm sorry if the spacing ends up being a total piece of shit, dumbass won't let me use the symbols I normally use to do the breaks, will find alternative-_

"Is she alive?"

Vega heard the voice but ignored it as she lay on her cot, eyes opened and glazed over. She hadn't slept most the night and had been there for hours, wondering.

Kaosu was going through something akin to torture. His pained roars echoed in the halls of her mind and kept her awake. But as the night droned on and Vega found herself drowning more and more in the guilt and anguish she felt at betraying the others she couldn't help but let her control over Kaosu slip just a little and allow what was still present of him in her mind take a little control. She wouldn't be under his control like a puppet but he would influence her actions, numb her feelings.

The girl didn't even twitch as a dark-haired boy with the yellow eyes prodded her shoulder with a finger and then stepped back. Kato hovered near, frowning visibly.

"She's still breathing," the taller boy said, pushing his friend out of the way and lifting up on one side of the bed, tipping Vega out of it.

Her whole body rushed to life as she hit the ground on her hands and knees. Eyes narrowing fractionally she twisted around and swung her leg out at Kato's knees, sweeping his feet out from under him.

The larger boy hit the ground with a thud, stunned for a second, but Misha wasn't. He lunged for the girl, who gave just an audible bark of laughter before getting thrown to the floor by the boy, who was quite a bit bigger than her.

She rolled to the side, grabbing him the shoulders of his coat and pushing him heavily to the floor, pinning him to there, a knee on either side of him caging him in under her weight.

"Don't you ever push me out of bed again, maggot, I'll get up when I damn well please," Vega barked, glaring at Kato, who was staring at her, expression blank. "And you, Sparky, don't touch the hardware." She prodded Misha in the chest with a finger before climbing off of him.

"Boris told us to come wake you up for training," Kato said tonelessly.

She eyed them both suspiciously as she brushed her clothes off. "I'm not participating in training," she growled.

"You don't have a choice," Misha put in, glaring at her.

"He's quite right." All three looked to the door, where Boris was standing, arms crossed, a frown etched across his face. "Now that you're here, Vega, you'll take part in the exercises as everyone else does. I can't play favorites can I? And you need to be in top shape for the tournament anyways."  
"I can't train without Kaosu," Vega replied coolly.

"Mmm, that's too bad, the men down in the lab couldn't get to him right away, they had to repair the damage from yesterday you know," he mocked. "I suppose you'll just have to do some physical exercises with the boys until then."

"You guys have to do this everyday?" Vega asked, sprinting alongside Misha and Kato, who were leading a pack of much younger trainees as they ran a lap around the building's courtyard, wardens standing not too far away watching them.

"This is the easy part," Misha replied, sparing the girl a look. "Ammo wall's next and then the Pit."

"That sounds like a place I want to be," the girl said bitterly, "do I want to know?"

"You like snakes?" Kato questioned.

"I have a freakin' dragon living in my head, snakes don't bother me," she answered, waving it off.

"Well good, then you won't mind hanging over a pit of poisonous ones by your bare hands for an extended period of time," Misha said, mock jovially.

Vega felt panic flutter in her chest but she did her best to betray none of that. "How many of you have died doing that?"

Misha looked dead ahead as if trying to ignore the fact that she had said anything and Kato took a little longer than necessary to answer. "Enough," he said solemnly, "but usually it wasn't the snakes that killed them."

"What's that mean?" she asked.

"Boris only gives the antivenins to the ones he sees worth saving. The others… died, slowly."

Vega stopped running all together, the news hitting her hard. Brian had never told her any of that. It really was no wonder to her anymore why Ian didn't like to blade, Wyborg probably brought back memories he didn't like to focus on.

She glanced over at the wardens, one of which was approaching her, and quickly started to run again, trying to catch up with Kato and Misha and as she did so she found herself dreading the day ahead.

"You guys can't be serious!" Tyson shouted, staring at Brian in shock. "That creep is back?!"

"We are serious," Tala said, eyes narrowing. "Everything makes sense now. He's the only one who has motive who could've arranged it."

"But what motive?" Charly asked, too stunned to raise her voice like she wanted to. It was like all of her fears had finally come to a head and popped.

"Power," Spencer replied. "He probably hasn't given up his conquest for it and the one bit beast that exists that could practically hand it to him would be Kaosu."

"But why not just steal Kaosu," Max questioned.

"Because he needs Vega to control him," Ian answered. "And there's something else."

The girls all glanced at one another, not sure whether or not they wanted to know.

"Vega never registered back onto the Amazons after the World Tournament three years ago because she hasn't participated in any since," Kai pushed on, finding the emotions bubbling within hard to control. He wanted to lash out something, anything. "She'd of received a separate invitation to the upcoming tournament, which obviously wasn't sent to Mr. Deamen if these were the teams ones we received."

"You think Boris might've intercepted it?" Charly wondered.

"It's very possible," Brian said solemnly. "For two purposes. One, to eliminate us, because he wouldn't take any chances of our getting in the way and because he wouldn't _have_ to do so in a tournament we think the tournament prize must be something he wants."

"So what now?" Cleo asked.

"We stop Boris and get Vega back, duh!" Tyson put in, jumping up.

"Look, stupid, we're going to have to do this the smart way, meaning you don't screw us over by rushing into anything," Tala said, glaring at Tyson a little. "Boris has trainees, who are probably tougher and meaner than us, meaning we have to train… which means you'll have to train twice as hard to even stand a chance."

"Hey! Remember who beat who, buddy!" Tyson snapped.

"_That_ was a long time ago," the Russian replied, crossing his arms. "I've seen you blade recently. One of Boris' trainees would chew you up and spit you out."

"Anyone could chew him up and spit him out recently," Takara said, going unheard.

The boy's eyes narrowed and he looked ready to say something but Rei stepped in, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "C'mon you two, cool it! This isn't the time to be arguing."

"I'm with Rei," Cleo said. "We need to get it together and start training. Kenny, could you try to figure out a little more about what the final prize could be?"

"On it," the boy replied, adjusting his glasses and turning to his ever-present laptop.

"Mmm, looks great," Vega said sarcastically as she stared at her tray, which was covered with things that looked sort of edible.

The cafeteria was a large, hollow room with a pitched ceiling and rows of tables sat up uniformly. The trainees stood in line, received their portion of slop, sat down, quietly mowed on their food military-style, and then filed out, returning to their "classes".

Vega was 'ordered' to sit with Kato and Misha, probably Boris' way of breaking them into the idea of her being around and keeping her in contact with limited to a set number of people he had the most control over.

The twins positioned themselves on either side of her as the two older boys sat down on the opposite side of the table and started eating.

The girl sighed and began her meal as well, ignoring the taste, or the lack there of, and trying to ignore the hovering wardens, who circled like vultures.

"Good job surviving the first day," Misha said at a whisper that was so low-pitched she had to strain to hear.

"Thanks, but I have a feeling that tomorrow will hurt like hell," she replied, trying to keep her voice at the same level.

"No talking!" a warden barked, his voice carrying through the empty room.

Vega gave him a sideways glare and turned her eyes back on the others. "Screw him," she whispered.

The warden thankfully had already moved on and missed her comment but a few others were watching her now.

She scowled at them and returned to her meal.

The sound of tray hitting the floor broke the silence but no one turned to see what had happened except for Vega.

A trainee, a pretty young one at that, had tripped and while he had managed to catch himself the tray of food he had been carrying slipped from his hands and clattered to the floor, breaking a dish and sending slop everywhere.

The wardens were on him in an instant.

One grabbed him by the shirt collar and held him by the shoulders while another gave him a tongue-lashing. Vega's eyes narrowed fractionally and she stood up.

Kato grabbed onto her arm. "Don't," he hissed.

"You can't just sit there and not do anything," she replied.

"Oh yes-"

"-we can," the twins put in.

"The kid didn't do anything though!"

"Doesn't matter," Misha said, "we all went through it, he'll live."

"Yeah, you all went through it, that's the problem," she whispered.

Kato's grip tightened. "If you step in you're going to get in deep with them. You don't mess with the wardens and you might survive a week or two."

Vega's eyes narrowed, darkening as she did so. Anger boiled within her and the bossy, callous, dark-side of her she had let go of began to bubble to the surface. Up until then she had let that side come out only enough to hide her emotions but now it was raging alive and angry. Who she had been in the past before the Amazons was mixing with who she was as an Amazon.

Kaosu's presence throbbed just a little stronger in her mind.

She tore free of Kato's grip and made her way towards the circle of wardens.

The boy was looking downcast and afraid, probably not yet submitted to enough abuse to become totally emotionless.

A warden glanced towards her and his eyes narrowed. "Go back to your seat!" he ordered, pointing.

"No… I don't think I will," she replied, voice taking on a cocky edge it had lacked before, her eyes glimmering maliciously.

"Insolent brat!" the warden snarled, swinging a hand out to strike her but she caught the offending appendage by the wrist, stopping the movement dead.

The recruits who hadn't been paying attention before were now.

Vega's eyes flashed and she lifted her other hand in time to catch his other wrist and then still gripping both tightly lifted a foot and planted it firmly into the man's stomach, releasing his hands at the same time so he stumbled back, landing ungracefully on the floor.

The other wardens didn't approach. As soon as she had stopped the first blow none of them wanted to be apart of what was happening.

The girl turned to face them and the very air around them seemed to chill and they all took a few steps back. She turned her focus on the boy, who was watching her with a mix of fear and awe, and then spun around and started for the doors.

Once outside she leaned against the wall and sighed, staring unblinkingly down at the floor. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest while some part of her grew excited, thriving off of the moment.

_It'll be better off if I just stay like this, won't it?_ she whispered mentally.

Kaosu's voice hissed back, faint but there. _Only for the time, mistress._

"I'm impressed."

She looked up to spot Boris approaching her from down the hall, his hands behind his back, a small grin tugging at his features.

"Though I don't appreciate such shows of… independence around here," he added.

"You'd prefer if I was a good little underling wouldn't you?" she spat.

The man chuckled. "Is it too much to ask?"

"From me it is."

"Well, nevertheless, I'd prefer it if you wouldn't knock unconscious too many of my wardens. Good help is _so_ hard to find these days."

"Where's Kaosu?"

"He'll be back in your hands by this evening I promise."

Tala couldn't sleep that night. He laid in bed on top of the sheets and quilt and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Everyone was quiet and moody. Worry had seized the group entirely and the halls of the floor they had to themselves were silent and eerie as a storm of melancholy rolled over them.

_The real thing that's bothering me is the fact that this is my fault,_ he thought, folding his arms behind his head. _If I'd of never let you join with me the world would've never known about Kaosu. Or at least Boris wouldn't._

"'Sup wheat thin?"

He looked to the doorway and the away again. "Go away, Charly."

"What's wrong Tala?" the girl asked, stepping in anyways and sitting down on the edge of his bed. When he didn't respond she sighed. "Tala, it'll be alright, we'll get her back."

"That's not what I'm worried about," he growled, glaring at her icily.

"Then what's eating you? Something's got to be, you passed up the chance to practice with the guys. I don't know you very well but I know that's a bit out of character."

Tala sighed and closed his eyes. "If it was anyone but Boris nothing would be wrong. I'd be angry and then I'd tear them apart. But I know what Boris does to trainees, I relive it every night in my dreams, and so do Kai and the others and the fact that Vega's being put through that is killing me. She won't come back the same person and chances are she'll never be. That's what's eating me Charly."

The girl stared at the floor hard for a second and sighed, standing up and heading for the door.

She stepped out into the hallway, pulled the door closed behind her.

"So?"

Charly looked up at Cleo and shook her head. "He's not any better."

"It's bothering all of them now because before they were just angry and weren't examining it… now it's all they're thinking about and it's just becoming worse," the blonde girl replied sadly. "I think I'm going to try to talk to Spencer again. He'll at least speak; Brian and Ian are lurking in the corners and won't say a word. Why don't you go check on Kai?"

The girl nodded and both headed out of the hotel suite, separating in the hallway.

Charly slid a cardkey through the lock of Kai's room, him having rented one to himself, letting the other Bladebreakers share a suite, and stepped inside.

He was sitting at the computer desk but the monitor was turned off. His eyes were focused on the wall and he was with one knee pulled to his chest, chin resting on his arm.

"Hey, blue," she said, stepping nearer.

"Have we all been color-coded now?" he asked, not looking at her.

Part of Charly wanted to laugh at his dry humor and then another part was too emotionally exhausted to spare even a grin.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Kai glanced over at her as she pulled up a footstool and sat down on it. "They're not worth that much."

"They are to me."

Her presence lightened his heavy heart for the moment. He and Tala and the other Demolition Boys knew that Boris, while he had power over both Vega and Kaosu, could very possibly succeed in whatever plot he was hatching as long as he managed to maintain that power.

He wanted to think that Vega would never help him out but he knew that Kaosu was susceptible to the seduction of power and therefore Vega was as well. He hoped that whatever leverage Boris had over Vega was soon eliminated.

"I'm just concerned," Kai said slowly.

"We all are," she put in, almost defiantly. "But jeez, Kai, you and the D-boys are shutting the rest of us out."

"Charly, you might not get it, but the fact that Boris is involved in this is really messing with the five of us! It's like the hell we thought we'd all left behind is coming back to haunt us!" he barked back, eyes intense for a moment.

Kai realized what he sounded like but it was too late, the blow was dealt. Charly looked away from him, blinking back what he knew to be tears. She and the other girls had nerves that were now on hair triggers, like five emotional time bombs ready to go off.

"Charly, I'm sorry," he said softly as he stood up and neared her, grabbing her by the arm and hauling her up off the footstool, using his other hand to tip her chin up so he could look her in the eye. "I didn't mean to snap at you, you didn't deserve that."

"I know, Kai," she replied, nodding and wiping at her eyes. "I'm just being stupid again, crying over every single last thing."

He sighed and pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist as she clung to his shoulders. "We're all a little edgy now but we'll get it together and we'll trounce Boris. I told you it'd be okay, I meant that and I'm not going back on it."

Charly hugged him a little tighter and then let him go, taking a step back. "Thanks, Kai."

He shrugged awkwardly and watched as she headed for the room door again. He sighed and sat back down, wishing silently that she hadn't gone.


	7. Sin of the Guilty

**Chapter 7**

_Info Corner-_

_Okay, here is where I answer the questions some of you have asked and explain some of the elements I've added into the story._

_Fact: In the original series there was actually a cut-out scene where it went more in-depth to the boys' training, which included dangling over pits filled with snakes and doing sit ups with spikes under their heads, which threatened to impale them if they relaxed fully back._

_Things to address-_

_Vega will turn into dark Vega and Kaosu will be evil… actually even more evil, but you guys knew this already. Her outfit's changed though, no more trench, but it is still pretty damn kick ass. Exodia actually has a picture/poster she's making for DER with Kaosu and Vega in it (wearing her stylish new duds) maybe she'll make it available to you guys somehow._

_There was a question about Cleo being able to speak Russian. She grew up in __Egypt__ (and __Athens__ sort of). You'll have to ask Exodia to get the full details but I'm pretty sure, no, she wouldn't speak Russian._

_Side note about my original fic: I believe it was Alexis who asked most of the questions. The title isn't set yet, it'll probably end up changing in time, if it does end up getting published I will be absolutely sure to tell you guys here, and further information about it probably won't come out until I'm done with it and even then I won't be divulging much. (Keep in mind that I am in no way close to 'finishing' it and while getting published is a distinct possibility it might not happen, or it might not happen within a year or even two years.)_

Kai stood out on his balcony, nervous heat biting at him, staring upwards at the heavens.

Why couldn't he have asked Charly to stay? Just a little longer? Just so he wouldn't feel so damn alone.

_"But jeez, Kai, you and the D-boys are shutting the rest of us out."_ Her eyes had pleaded worriedly with him, begging him not to turn her away… and then he had to go and prove just how big of an ass he could be.

He was shutting them out. He knew it

He didn't want to be but he was.

Pushing them away felt like the right thing to him and the others, it put everyone else at arm's length so maybe their accursed luck wouldn't hurt them, so that maybe the girls and the other Bladebreakers were a little safer from what were their pasts… and Boris.

But none of them deserved that. Kai felt like an exceptional ass shoving Charly away when she needed him to assure her the most.

She was only trying to help.

_Master?_ Black-Dranzer and Dranzer asked of him, their voices joining into one as they spoke in unison.

This only further served to distress Kai as he realized something…

Those dreams…

Their meanings came flooding to him a little too late. That shadow and those eyes had belonged to Boris and Vega's blank, withdrawn expression… proof that what had happened to him and the Demolition Boys would happen to her, proof that she'd once again become the shell of a human being she had three years ago.

He cursed and slammed a fist against the iron hand-rail that surrounded the balcony.

He shouldn't have ignored what Black Dranzer was trying to tell him! He shouldn't have just waved those dreams off!

Kai felt guilt consume him and he covered his face with his hands as he sat back in a patio chair. _I'm sorry, Vega,_ he thought, shaking his head.

It wasn't Tala he should've been blaming

Brian found Kai sitting out on the balcony the next morning when he had come in to check on the man.

His brown eyes were glazed over and he looked haggard and exhausted.

"Kai?"

Kai looked up. "It's my fault Vega's gone."

"It's not," Brian simply protested, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and hauling him out of his chair, leading him into the room. "Did you sleep at all?"

"I can't sleep," Kai replied, shaking his head.

"You will, Kai, we need you sane and not exhausted," Brian said, shoving him towards the bedroom, "the tournament is in a few days, we have to be in top form. I'll have Charly come in and keep an eye on you."

Kai didn't even respond as he walked to his bed and sat down. Brian was right. He needed to rest.

"I'm started to really worry about him," Brian said as he stepped into the hall where the girl and Cleo and Spencer were waiting. "Do you think he'll be up for the tournament?"

"Of course he will," Cleo said, trying to wave it off, though worry was clear in her eyes, "this is Kai."

"I hope so," Brian answered, looking to Charly, "you should go in and keep him company. He didn't sleep at all. He said something about it being his fault that Vega's gone."

Charly frowned worriedly and disappeared into the room. Brian looked to his sister and then up to his teammate. "Why don't you two get the others around? I'm going to go down to the parking lot to make sure no one's using the dish there."

Brian found no one using the dish but a young man standing beside it with his back to Brian, as if waiting for something.

He frowned. "Waiting for someone?"

The boy turned and smirked. Brian's eyes narrowed as golden-yellow eyes, obscured by black bangs, pierced him.

"You," the boy said simply.

"Why?"

A smiled played across his lips. "My name's Misha, you'll become very familiar with it very soon."

Brian suddenly knew this boy. Tala had described him at least once or twice while they paced around the night before. "You're one of Boris' cronies."

"You're a lot smarter than I'd ever give you credit for," Misha replied with a chuckle as he folded his hands behind is back. "You're Brian and something like a legend around the camp. One of the coldest, meanest, strongest bladers to ever live; it's too bad you became weak, you might be something more than a legend if you hadn't."

"Why don't you let me show you my so-called weakness," Brian snarled, reaching for his launcher.

"Don't be so hasty to lose. I'll be glad to smack you around in the tournament. I've learned that you accepted the invitations; you must know Boris will be there. What with your dear friend missing that'd be your only reason for accepting."

The lavender-haired boy felt his heart rise into his throat. "Vega," he whispered.

"Very good," Misha mocked, grinning. "If it'll make you feel any better she's fine, doing quite well. I'm surprised she'd survived the training though… well… at least physically she has."

Brian didn't want to know what the boy meant even though he had some idea deep within his mind. "Keep talking, half-pint, you're just giving me more of a reason to kick your ass in the tournament."

The boy smirked some more. "I'd like to see that." With that he turned and began to walk away. Getting a rise out of Brian only proved to him one thing: he wasn't so impenetrable. And if Misha could get under the great, emotionless Brian's skin he could get under any of theirs.

"Brian?"

Brian was still staring in the direction that Misha had disappeared and the voice knocked him from his trance. He turned and spotted Tala standing there with the other Bladebreakers, the Amazons approaching, minus Charly, who he imagined was still taking care of Kai. "What?"

"You zoned on us," Ian said, crossing his arms. "Something up?"

Brian glanced back to where Misha had been and then away again. "No, let's train."

"You aren't supposed to be here." Misha scowled as he stumbled upon Vega and Kato waiting for him on a bench just around the corner from the hotel.

Vega sat with her head tipped back, her hair blowing wildly in the wind. She wore a black, long-sleeved shirt with series of buckles descending the right arm and net-mesh down the left, a pair of black pants, which tucked into her shin-high lace-up boots, with a buckles and straps littering each leg with a string of chain link hanging from her hip, connecting to a random strap at her knee and then dangling free down her shin. Around her waist, secured by a belt of heavy leather, hung a piece of fabric that resembled something like a skirt cut in half, which covered the better portion of her left leg and was covered from top to bottom with buckles.

"Who says?" she asked, opening her eyes, which stared, not at him, but straight upward at the sky.

"Boris did! He told you to stay back at the compound."

Vega grinned, an expression that seemed more malicious than happy. "Oops," she said insincerely, her head rolling onto her shoulder so she could stare at him through her platinum white bangs, "I suppose I forgot. Let's get back then shall we?"

"They could've seen you," Misha argued as she got up and started off down the sidewalk. He turned to Kato. "Why didn't you try to stop her?"

"I'm just her keeper, no one said anything about babysitting," the larger boy answered, standing up as well.

_Seen me?_ Vega echoed in her mind. _Would they have even known me?_

"How kind of you to rejoin us," Boris said icily as the three entered the compound. "Vega, I didn't excuse you from this morning's training."

The girl chuckled, a sound that reverberated off of the chilled wall. "So?"

He frowned deeply. He liked her progress, she was becoming the same person she had been three years ago: cold, ruthless, and shrewd, but she was becoming almost too bold for his tastes. It was a matter of controlling her, he knew, because Kaosu's independence showed outwardly through his mistress. She required freedom but he had given her as much slack as he was willing to.

"If you'd followed me," Boris growled, turning on his heel and striding off down the hall.

Vega followed, hardly fazed by his dislike, and grinning mutely to herself. She could feel Kaosu waiting for her on the other side of the compound in his office.

_Mistress._

Something about his presence felt different and as Vega tried to figure out what exactly she took the steps two at a time after Boris.

"Did you have fun on the outside?" he questioned.

"Let's just say the grass is really greener on the other side… or you just need a better gardener."

It was a few dark halls and windowless corridors later that she found herself stepping into his office.

"Before I reacquaint you and Kaosu I have a small something else to give you."

Vega watched him wearily, eyeing the blade on the table as it glowed brilliantly. Kaosu roared loudly within her mind and as she closed her eyes she saw his peering back at her.

_Mistress,_ he said, his voice a reassurance she had needed for a long time.

_You're alright then,_ she replied.

_Better than I have since I've awaken,_ the dragon answered with a smile in his tone. _Though I fear this change will only hurt you in the end._

Vega was about to ask what he meant when the feel of someone's hands securing something to her head and as she came to her senses she lifted her own fingers to examine a headband Boris had placed on her. She turned to the glass in one of the cabinets and frowned at the object, which was a simple ring of metal. Her fingers trailed to the nap of her neck and she frowned. The metal there was thicker and small bumps in it dug into her skin uncomfortably. There were small, metal attachments on either side of her head, which resembled Kaosu's scaly ears, likely Boris' attempt to make it less grotesque.

"Are you familiar with how a stun-gun works?" Boris asked as he sat down at his desk.

"Somewhat," she answered.

Boris nodded congenially as he removed a small remote from his desk drawer and leaned back. He motioned to Kaosu. "Why don't you go ahead and take him?" he offered, waving a hand.

Vega carefully did so, running a thumb over the dragon's chip, feeling relief wash over her.

"A stun gun emits an electrical charge that when touched to a human it interferes with the body's natural electrical currents. The charge flows through muscles so rapidly it makes them work very hard but not efficiently and this depletes blood sugar, which turns into lactic acid within seconds. Following?" Vega nodded and he continued. "The resulting energy loss makes it difficult to move or function properly and at the same time the neurological impulses that direct muscle movement are interrupted, this of course causes loss of balance and general confusion. There are actually a few different types of stun guns, all of which have their own duration periods and strengths but I've designed my own that makes it more a control system."

Realization dawned on Vega just as his thumb hit one of the buttons on the remote and held it down firmly. She shrieked as pain raced from her neck down her body like small electrified pins were stabbing her everywhere all at once. Her knees gave out under her and she hit the ground.

Boris got up from his chair and stepped closer to her, using his boot to turn her over onto her back so she could look up at him with half-closed eyes. "I know right now you're experiencing that disorientation I mentioned so I'll make this very simple. Disobey me again and this will happen, every time. Consider it training… but in more of the obedience sense." His eyes flickered to Kaosu's blade, which was glowing violently in response. "I also took the liberty of installing another nifty little device… Kaosu can only rise from his blade when it's set in motion. I hope I haven't damaged any trust you had placed in me."

"No," she sputtered, the confusion subsiding but the temporary paralysis lasting, "this… is… all I expected… of a snake."

Boris smirked and tucked his remote into his pocket. "I'm glad to hear it. I'd love to stand around and wait for you to gather yourself but I'm a very busy man. I'll send Kato to assist you."

Vega had coaxed her muscles into allowing her to stand-up by time Kato had gotten there but he insisted on helping her anyways, placing one of her arms around his neck and then lifted her up bridal-style.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" she asked.

"No, but if I had I wouldn't have been surprised," he answered calmly. "But if you'd listen this wouldn't be needed."

"Submitting to Boris would hurt me more than some electricity," Vega muttered as he took the steps two at a time.

"Pride's not everything."

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black."

Kato didn't respond as he shouldered open a door and carried her down the hallways.

He sat her onto her feet, holding up most of her weight with one arm around her waist, and slid his cardkey through the lock of her door. He helped her in and shut the door behind him, watching as she collapsed onto the bed, entirely zapped of her strength.

She laughed weakly. "I don't even have the strength to undo my shoes so I can sleep."

Kato 'hmmed' a little unconcernedly and turned to the door.

Vega managed to prop herself up onto her elbows. "Kato?"

He turned to face her. "What?"

She ignored how the word came out sharp. "Thank you."

His eyes widened fractionally and she couldn't help but smile at what she knew was his genuine surprise by her words.

"Whatever." Kato recovered and left quickly.

_CG: Having really not a whole lot to say I'll just say this: if you have any comments you want to make, anything you want to ask about, or if you're interested in any of the number of side stories I write email me._

_Oh yeah and: PLEASE REVIEW!! If you don't I won't be motivated to write and then I won't finish._


	8. Chaos Rising

**Chapter 8**

_C. Good: Yey, it's chapter 8… even though only something like 3 of you reviewed chapter 7 glare._

_ Alright it's day one of tournament and let's just say there are some serious ass kickings in here._

_ Exodia-girl, who is my co-author (which all of you should know) wrote the battle scene and did a wonderful job._

_ Uh… yeah that just about covers it, oh and just because I feel like politically grandstanding: VOTE BUSH, DAMN IT!_

The tournament would take place in a park, which was closed off for the sake of keeping people who didn't belong out. A crowd was already gathering to see the teams, even if they weren't allowed to watch the actual battles, and as Vega, Boris, and the Vanguard approached the four boys received loud cheers but people gazed in wonder at Vega from where she half-hid between Misha and Kato and whispers began hissing like wildfire through the crowd. The same Amazon that had betrayed her team three years ago and then Tala and now again was here? Had she no loyalties?

Vega couldn't make herself believe that she did. If she was loyal she would've found some other way out of this rather than taking the 'easy' way, which she was now sure wasn't so easy.

"Vega!"

The girl winced as Boris barked at her and then glared at him. "I'm not deaf," she said pointedly.

"One would wonder," he snarled back. "It's only day one, you must remain focused."

"Or?" Vega challenged.

He grabbed her fiercely by the front of her shirt and pulled her near, stooping so they were eye level, obviously not caring that the crowd was watching. He removed the remote from his pocket and held it up. "Or I will hold down on this button so long you won't be able to feel your legs for a week."

"Then I'll be sort of useless to you won't I?" she growled.

Boris sneered at her as he released her collar. "You're useless to begin with. I just need Kaosu, you're the unfortunate baggage." He turned and began walking briskly again, leaving her and the boys to follow.

She scowled at his back but didn't dare say anything. An angry Boris was even more dangerous than an angry scorpion. The scorpion at least had the decency to kill you quickly.

"Vega?" Kato queried, treading softly on dangerous territory.

If he was concerned for her or just curious or something else Vega couldn't tell. She instead just brushed him off and shook her head.

-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE SPACE-SPACE-

(HA! My alternative… stupid )

"Day one," Charly said aloud as she and the Amazons and Bladebreaker stood in a circle of mingling teams. The Demolition Boys and Cleo, who had agreed to take up the temporary opening on the Amazon team, were off elsewhere. "Is anyone else nervous?"

Charly wore an outfit consisting of black pants tucked into matching boots with a black shirt with a red V-shaped inset of fabric at the neck which faded to black at the shoulders leading into a pair of 'wings', which were two black strips of fabric that hung down from the seams at her shoulders to about mid-calf off of which hung two, gold metal ornaments, which were shaped like arrowheads and swayed a little as she moved. A strip of fish net ran down each sleeve from the shoulder to the wrist and there was glitter that peppered the two wing-like extensions and the black choker she wore.

"Nervous?" Tyson echoed. "Why should we be nervous? We're world champs! We laugh in the face of competition! Chill, Charly, we'll have this tournament wrapped up in no time."

"You seem to be forgetting something," Kai said lowly, eyeing his teammate. "Boris is going to be here."

"We've been here for an hour and we haven't seen hide or hair him, maybe you guys were wrong," Lily suggested tenderly, not wanting to hit a nerve.

"He'll be here," Kai insisted, his eyes combing through the crowd icily, "keep your eyes opened."

"So you're the Bladebreakers and Amazons, we're sorry to eavesdrop but it was hard to ignore with your friend there hollering it on the top of his lungs."

It wasn't Boris but the four bladers who appeared before them weren't any less menacing looking.

The speaker was a thin, pretty girl with long, glossy purple hair that reached all the way to her waist and fuchsia colored eyes. She wore a black miniskirt and an orange jack over a black shirt with long sleeves that stopped just above her last rib.

Flanking her were three boys, who were all about the same height. The first was leanly muscular and a bit intimidating. His hair was jet black, which matched well with his equally black eyes, which were piercing and dagger-like. He had a hawk-like nose and sharp features and wore an outfit consisting of an orange jacket, black turtleneck, and loose pants.

The other two were thinner and lankier wearing similar uniforms. One was blond, his hair spiked straight upward and the other had brown hair, slicked back and shiny. They were obviously brothers and had smirking, cocky demeanors.

"You would be?" Charly asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"The Templars," the girl said, placing a hand to her chest, "I'm Tarren and this is Ajax-" the pointed to the larger boy-"and Luke and Warrick. It's an honor to be in the same tournament as such well renowned bladers."

The Amazons glanced at one another, unimpressed.

"How come that sounded so hollow?" Tyson muttered, glancing over at Max who grinned.

Tarren eyed the boy in annoyance but turned her eyes to Charly instead. "I see you're one short. Your strongest one it seems… how unfortunate. I wish you luck."

Charly's eyes narrowed. "You'll need it more than us," she replied.

"Where would Vega be?"

"I don't see how my teammate's business has anything to do with you," the Amazon answered frostily.

Tarren raised an eyebrow but if that meant anything none of them could be too sure. Fuchsia eyes turned to look passed Kai's shoulder and smiled. "Ah, more celebrities," Tarren said as the D-boys approached, Cleo flanking them, "this seems to complete the picture."

"Who's this?" Brian asked, frowning in a less than impressed way.

Before Tarren could start in on introductions Kai cut in, having not exactly liked the way the girl was treating Charly or speaking about Vega. "No one important."

Tala scowled as Tarren's eyes fixed on him and she stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Now here's a face I recognize," she said in a flirtatious manner.

The Russian picked her hand up by a finger and removed it from his shoulder, dropping it unceremoniously as if it were a piece of garbage. "Don't touch me."

The girl pouted but backed off.

"So, do they talk or are they just there to look pretty?" Rei asked, eyeing the three other Templars, who hadn't spoken this whole time.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you," Ajax said, glaring at the boy.

"Oh, I think my bunny slippers just ducked for cover," Tyson mocked. "You're not scary, tough guy."

"I suggest telling your friend here to watch his mouth," Ajax snarled, looking to Kai.

But the boy wasn't paying attention and neither were any of the others.

Across the clearing among the crowd stood four boys, a man, and a girl they all knew very well.

"And the worst case scenario of course surfaces," Spencer said mildly, solemnity sweeping over the group.

The Templars turned to look as well and Tarren frowned. "They must be the Vanguard."

"You've heard about them?" Charly asked, her heart rising into her throat, desperately trying not to let her panic surface. _Oh, Vega, what's he done to you?_

"They were more like a rumor for a while but I guess they're really real," Luke replied with a shrug as he ran a hand back through his blond hair. "They're supposed to have these genetically enhanced bit beasts and killer moves but that's just all assumption. No one's ever really seen them in battle. I guess this tournament will be worth it just to see if they're really that hot."

-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE SPACE-SPACE-

"Since coaches aren't allowed out on the field with the teams we'll have to stick with radio communications," Boris said as the five stuffed earpieces in and adjusted their microphones. "Just a few rules: Kai, Charly, Tala, and Brian are _off limits_. We don't need to fight them any sooner than we have to. All of the others are open. Understand?"

Each of them nodded and the man turned to walk off but pause a moment and looked to Vega. "Don't screw up… it'll hurt you much more than me."

Her eyes narrowed fractionally at him as he turned and walked off.

"We have our map and instructions, let's just get going, I don't see why we had to gather here," Misha said, crossing his arms.

"The people who are hosting this have something to say," Kato replied. "Just calm down would you?"

"Yes, Misha, don't get too anxious-"

"-we have plenty of time to throttle everyone," the twins said. Jax looked to Vega. "Right?"

The girl vaguely nodded. "Plenty of time," she agreed, nodding.

"Alright, settle down everyone!"

The crowd of teams turned to face the small podium in the center of their group where a tall, blond man stood, wearing a white suit with an almost blood red shirt. "I'd like first to thank you for showing up. The turnout is better than we could have expected and I see that we have a few celebrities in our midst," he said, nodding approvingly as his eyes scanned over the crowd. "My name's Malcolm and as you all know this is a somewhat freestyle tournament. You're encouraged to battle as much as you can within five days time and those individuals with the most losses, which we have our ways of keeping track of, will be eliminated and those left will continue into the finals. Whole teams might make it together but if this occurs we must warn you that teammates might be forced to face-off against teammates. Since there are no referees to oversee these matches there are no set ground rules but we encourage everyone to be sportsmanlike and play accordingly." He paused a moment, giving Vega time to glance over at Kato and Misha, who were looking particularly malicious at these words, and then grinned. "You know that the tournament zone limits extend only five miles outside of the perimeter of the park and that going outside of these limits will lead you down the road of immediate disqualification. And remember, any challenges you accept are binding things. You cannot back out of them. With that said, let's get this party moving!"

Vega glanced to the Amazons and company, who were now just visible through the dispersing crowd and her eyes darkened as that annoying, purple-haired girl placed a hand flirtatiously on Tala's upper arm. He knocked her hand away looked as though he said something to brush her off but she only persisted.

"I have an idea," Vega said softly, "for my first match."

"Here?" Kato asked.

"Why not?" she replied. "It seems an appropriate place to get our name out there. Follow, if you would."

Vega approached the others, drawing her launcher and blade.

They seemed to bristle at her approach and Vega tried to put on her best façade. She couldn't like them see her any different than Boris did… not just then when she needed to gain the man's trust.

Charly wanted to say something but was having the same problem all the others were: she didn't know what to say or what needed to be said. Vega looked so dead and so far gone… it made her wonder if that was even her friend at all.

"Tarren," Vega spoke, fixing her eyes on the girl and then her teammates.

"How do you know my name?" Tarren asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Why shouldn't I? I think this tournament needs a little jump start to make things interesting… how about a battle?"

"You and me?" the other girl questioned with a smirk. She had heard of the Dragoness' power, sure, but she wanted to test it. Talk was often just that, talk.

"Nothing quite so simple, I actually like a _challenge_," Vega said, shaking her head and crossing her arms, a grin forming on her lips. "I was thinking something more like one versus four… I'd like to see how I fair against your _whole_ team."

Other teams who had been dispersing stopped at hearing this and lingered. Was she nuts? There was no way one bit beast, even hers, could take on four others!

"Everyone was right when they said you were crazy," Ajax said, frowning at the girl.

Vega shrugged. "Maybe. I can see if you're scared, I mean, a loss this early in the tournament would be hard to make up for. It's a shame-"

"Who said that we're scared?" the boy cut in, glaring at her now.

She smirked. "So you accept?"

Tarren grabbed Ajax's shoulder and shook her head fiercely. "Ajax, you're letting her get to you," she hissed.

"C'mon, Tarren, we could take her easy, it's four versus one!" he argued.

"You were right, Misha," Vega said over her shoulder to the boy, "they're running scared like babes in the woods. Reputations built upon shaking foundations… oh well."

She turned as if to walk off, waving a hand casually to the Vanguard for them to follow when a hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

"We accept your stupid challenge," Ajax snapped.

Vega smirked, looking sideways to Kato. "Very good. I see that there's a dish over there, shall we?"

"Shouldn't we tell them they're making a huge mistake?" Rei asked.

"Would they listen? Vega said all those things because she knew she could rile up Ajax enough to accept the challenge for his whole team and you heard Malcolm, you can't back out of challenges you've accepted," Tala replied, eyes narrowing. "This is good though, we can see what sort of modifications Boris might've done to improve on Kaosu."

"Three," Vega shouted, positioning her launcher, hand on the ripcord.

"Two," Ajax replied as the Templars spread out around their side of the dish.

"Let it rip!"

The blades touched down in the dish, the Templars began to circle Kaosu that was deathly still, spinning rapidly in the center of the dish. Vega smirked and folded her arms over her chest as the crowd gathered around the dish, anxious to see the first fight of the tournament. She could feel all the eyes on her, and that brought certain feeling of elation to her.

"You are a fool!" Tarren accused, pointing a finger at her.

"Oh am I?" Vega replied, cocking her head to the side a little, giving a malicious grin that was so reminiscent of the tournament three years ago.

"Alright boys! Let's show her! Attack!" Tarren ordered. The four Templar blades charged at Kaosu, hitting it from all four directions hard, grinding into its sides. Sparks flew and a loud grinding noise followed.

"Kaosu…" Vega spoke the name quietly. The blade bucked Tarren's blade away and darted foreword, "Destroy her!" Vega commanded, her eyes becoming cold like ice as she let her arms drop to her side. Kaosu charges after Tarren's blade, the other four Templars forgotten and unable to keep up with the black blade as it hit it's target from behind hard, each hit sending it careening a little more out of control.

"Go around!" Ajax commanded. His blade charged trajectory and spun around to intercept and hopefully let his teammate's blade get away. Vega grinned. Just as his blade was coming in, Kaosu turned and slammed Tarren's blade hard, sending it right into the path of Ajax's, the two blades hit with explosive force, sending Tarren's flying back.

"Woops…" Vega spoke quietly before promptly bursting out laughing almost maniacally, but the laugh didn't last long as her eyes froze over again. The other two blades chose that moment to slam Kaosu from behind, though the black blade didn't budge an inch.

"What the hell? Two slams and it don't even move!" Luke commented in astonishment. Before either could respond Kaosu went berserk, doing a figure eight around both of them, slamming them hard whenever it could.

"Kato you were right once again," Vega spoke to the tall boy behind her, "They are pathetically weak. I grow bored, enough play Kaosu… Rise!" Vega commanded. Her black blade began to glow as steam rose from it, suddenly with a thunderous roar Kaosu stretched out, head to tail. His eyes glowing bright crimson. Vega was surprised to find just what Boris did to the dragon. The triangular spores on the dragon's back were now incased in silver metal that protected his weakness, they also looked like they were razor sharp. On the dragon's arms were heavy gauntlets; his already wicked sharp claws were also encased in silver metal that gleamed, the razor-sharp sword-like blades on either side looked menacingly real. The surprise did not last long and the dragon turned his head to Tarren, giving her a dragonish impression of a sinister grin.

"Get rid of them Kaosu… Revolver Divine Dragon Cannon!" Vega called. The Templars froze like poles as the dragon drew back his head and opened his jaws, sparkles began to collect and draw inside the dragon's mouth as an orb formed rapidly.

"Attack!" Ajax called, knowing full well that he had a split second to disturbs the dragon's charging. His blade began to glow as his bit beast prepared to rise.

"Fire!" Vega commanded. Kaosu closed his mouth and drew back his head until his neck formed a figure 's'; suddenly he opened his mouth and blasted an orb of yellow energy, quickly clamping his mouth shut. The orb hit Ajax's blade, sending it flying right out of the dish. Kaosu opened his mouth again and blasted out another orb, this one hit Luke's blade, which shockingly exploded to a million little pieces, the bit chip falling away, burned. Vega began to laugh maniacally as Kaosu repeated for the third time, this time sending Warrick's blade flying.

"Just you and me little one," Vega hissed. Kaosu turned his head and focused his red eyes on the girl, opening his jaws and blasted another shot, sending Tarren's blade out, half melted, it landed behind her in a mangled heap. Vega raised her arm, holding out her hand in a way as if she had a gun. Kaosu opened his jaws and fired again, this time the orb hit at Tarren's feet, causing the girl to leap back, stumbling she landed on her rear. "Who's the fool now?" she asked. Kaosu opened his jaws again and formed the last orb remaining of his revolver-like six-shot DDC. Turning his head he blasted it at a tree, the wood exploded to millions splinters before falling to the ground.

Kaosu roared thunderously and took flight before nose-diving back into his blade. Vega raised her hand and the blade leapt into her waiting palm. She smiled darkly and turned.

"I think my point's been made," she added. With that she walked away, flanked by the Vanguards; Kato and Misha on either side and the twins behind her.

"Kenny!" Charly barked, turning on the boy, who was tapping furiously as his laptop, already on what she was going to request.

How was that the DDC? It didn't even seem to drain Kaosu at all!

"That _was _the DDC; Kaosu just broke the shot off by closing his mouth between each firing, giving it six shots. Each shot has exactly one-sixth the power of the DDC. I don't know how it didn't drain him though; it's very possible that Boris might've 'jumped' his power. I need a better reading on him to tell how many times he can do that without feeling the effects."

"But didn't it drained Vega last time too," Tala put in, remembering back to the battle with Michael. She had practically collapsed once back on the bench.

"Yes, but that was because Kaosu needed to feed off of her energy to perform the attack. Now he's got enough of his own so he doesn't need to drain her… or at least not for the first shot," Kenny explained. "I can imagine he might be able to fire it two times without feeling the after effects but by the third time it'll probably totally zap Vega and a the fourth time it's… very possible it'd kill them both and if not both of them Vega's at a definite risk."

"Does she know that?" Brian asked, scowling.

"Probably not," Tala said, cutting Kenny short. "Did you see the look on her face when he first rose? She obviously didn't know about the metal Boris lined Kaosu's body with, I doubt he told her anything else he did."

"Kaosu will tell her," Kai cut in. "He might be evil but he'd never do anything to hurt Vega. He'll warn her about that. Vega getting herself killed is the least of our worries at the moment anyways. Everyone must stay on their guard; the new trainees will likely be ready and willing to tear apart anyone mercilessly and they'll be definitely coming after us. Stay as far away from them as you can." He looked up to spot Tala walking off. "Where are you going?"

"It doesn't matter, I'll be back later," the Russian called over his shoulder.

The girls glanced at one another and uneasily started off in the one direction while the boys split up into the others. Everyone would be scouting out the area the first day, where the dishes were located, exactly what sat on the tournament border, and 'safe houses' where they could stay overnight. The radios they carried would let them communicate with one another anywhere in the area, which would help with keeping track of other teams.

_You don't seem happy, Mistress._

Vega shook her head, standing before the dragon, which was lying on his stomach in the recessed cavern he inhabited in her mind. His metal claws glinted slightly and the metal spores on his back shifted with him as he moved. _I'm not,_ she replied. _It was a hollow victory._

The twins were off somewhere as were Kato and Misha and she was left leaning against the wall of a restaurant on the opposite side of the street of the park.

"Vega."

She looked up, pulling herself from her reverie and her eyes widened as she spotted Tala standing at the mouth of the alley. She remembered telling Charly that she would know what she felt for Tala when she saw him. And now, looking into his eyes, she did.

And then Vega did the next logical, girly thing to do when she came to the realization that being what she now was she did not want him to see her. She turned and booked it.

Tala's eyes narrowed as he followed her. "Vega!" he shouted.

She was off like a shot down the sidewalk and the Russian kept on her quickly but as they rounded a corner she was gone out of thin air.

Tala slowed and glanced around. He could look for her thoroughly and probably find her but she didn't want to be found. She had looked terrified when they had come face-to-face and he sighed, looking to the ground. _If you don't want to be found I'll just have to drag you out,_ he thought.

Vega, who had leapt over the hedge separating the sidewalk of the street from the grass of the park, heard Tala walk off and breathed out to soothe herself as she rose to her feet. _I hope I won't have to run from you anymore once this is over._

"Vega."

She would've jumped if she hadn't gotten so used to Kato and Misha doing that to her over the last week and as she turned she spotted her white-haired bodyguard standing there. He looked displeased and she realized that he must've saw Tala and when she had stepped out he put two and two together.

"Kato… did you…"

"Yes… are you looking for Boris to paralyze you or something?" he hissed.

"He's not going to found out," Vega protested, giving him a meaningful look.

Kato shook his head. "I can't-"

"Please, Kato," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He found himself torn between his loyalty to Boris and his growing like for this girl. Her eyes pleaded with him and just then she looked much more alive and resembled the girl who had come to them than she had in a few days. She'd grown colder and colder and sometimes she even scared him a little.

But now she was warm and gentle and much like the girl he'd grown to enjoy keeping company with.

"Fine," he replied, nodding slowly, coming to a rash decision. "I won't say anything. But if he asks I will not lie."

"I wouldn't want you to." She smiled and when she looked away was suddenly cold again. "Let's find the others."

_C. Good: Now how'd all of you like that? Obviously tension's mounting and it's all heating up. Alright… yeah, I'm done._

_ And remember: Kerry is a liberal piece of poo. _


	9. Promises Made

**Chapter 9**

_Chaotic G.: Yes you may pelt me with rotten tomatoes for this being late. I'm trying my best though I swear! I'm just really busy with my original story and I'm having a hell of a time with the flu this year. Oh yeah and this note is going to be kind of long._

_A brief chapter summary: No battles here just a lot of plotless talking… hmm, did you ever notice that a good 90 of the chapters are dedicated to that with no real plot? Anyways, Kai and Charly have a little 'run in' of the unpleasant sort and a moment. Vega gets an unexpected compliment and poses a riddle to Misha._

_Question for the viewers: Do you prefer a lot of battle sequences or just them littered throughout a few chapters here and there? I have to know because Exodia writes my match sequences and I want to know how much work I'm going to have to put her to._

_Question and Answer: Uh, yeah, I think a few of you had more questions so I'll answer them now._

_Okay someone asked about a possible Kato/Vega- I know, I've been kind of hinting that strongly haven't I? Hmm… I think I'll let you guys mull over that. But please don't hate poor Kato because it appears as though he's taking Vega away. He's younger than she is and I'm pretty sure Vega doesn't go for younger guys wink. _

_Okay yeah, my above answer reminded me- Do you guys want full bios on the Vanguard? If so please, email me at _ _. Thanks!_

_Enjoy!_

"Where have you been?" Brian asked as Tala walked into the safe house they were taking a break in. The Bladebreakers, minus Kai, were stuffing their faces with lunch and the Amazons were no where in sight.

Tala didn't reply as he threw himself into a chair and crossed his arms.

Brian and Kai looked at one another and then back at the Russian, who appeared to be brooding over something.

"I found Vega," Tala growled under his breath, catching their attention. "Boris will pay."

His eyes darkened at this and the Demolition Boys and Kai glanced at one another wearily.

"Yeah… Tala, one thing at a time, buddy," Ian said tentatively, "we still have to stop him and his goons from winning the tournament."

Tala passed him a murderous glare and the smaller boy shrunk back a little bit.

"So you followed them," Kai said curiously.

"Yeah," Tala replied. "They left her alone long enough for me to approach her. She took off when I confronted her and then vanished when she rounded a corner. I think she jumped behind the hedge of the park."

"And you didn't corner her because…"

"Because if Boris found out she'd be dead."

Brian frowned. "How do you figure?"  
Tala drew a finger across the front of his forehead and the other four glanced at one another, frowning. "That metal bad, it's like a shock collar. According to a few people who had been watching saw him threaten her with a remote control. What else could it be? And how else would he control her?"

"What about Kaosu? Why won't he just rise on his own?" Ian asked.

"Boris could've added a restraint mechanism," Spencer said lowly. "It makes sense. Boris would've known he'd go ballistic."

"It still doesn't explain Vega's behavior during that battle," Kai put in, shaking his head. "That was purely malicious."

"It was purely malicious when she went after Michael during the semi-finals," Tala replied. "Besides… it doesn't take long to get like that when you have to put up with Boris. Between Kaosu, who is acting entirely on malevolence since his 'upgrade', and the training… no wonder she's like this now. She must be half-crazy."

There was silence for a few moments until Brian broke it. "And part of her… finds comfort in it." The other looked to him with questioning stares, not one of them saying a word. "It was how she was before she met Charly, right? Some part of her finds comfort in the strength she feels when she's knocking everyone else down. We should all know how that feels."

The group glanced at one another solemnly and then away again, falling into a brooding, contemplative silence.

(SPACE-SPACE-SPACE)

"You've impressed me, Vega."

The girl didn't even glance up from the spot on the ground she was burning a hole into as she sat on the park bench, arms crossed. "You aren't allowed onto the field." The night's breeze brushed gently against her cheek.

Boris chuckled as he put his hands in his pockets, focusing his red gaze on her with a small grin. "Money goes a long way."

"Is that your answer to everything? Greasing palms?"

"Mostly, it's a great equalizer… but breaking arms seems to work much better with the more stubborn types who would cost me too much. How did you like the upgrades?"

"Beautiful," she said flatly. "Might I ask how you multiplied Kaosu's ability to fire the DDC?"

He shrugged. "Some genetic engineering you wouldn't understand. It was no big feat really. You should thank me; I've just taken you from mediocre to where you and Kaosu deserve to be."

Vega rolled her eyes and said nothing.

"I meant what I had said."

She spared him a narrowed look. "What?"

"About being impressed; you've exceeded all my expectations."

"That'd be almost flattering if I didn't hate you so much."

"Hate is such a harsh word, Vega."

"I've got several other harsh words for you that I won't say for the sake of not giving you the satisfaction."

Boris crossed his arms. "I don't like it that you hate me," he said in a pitiful, almost mockingly saddened way.

"I'm pretty sure it's not breaking your heart," she snarled.

His head rolled back a bit as he chuckled. "Not at all."

Vega shook her head. "If only everyone were as predictable as you."

"If you have anyone to be bitter at it should be Tala. After all he did get you into this."

"I don't believe that."

The man snorted. "That's your choice I suppose," he replied, shrugging, "to some people ignorance is bliss."

Vega growled and got up, facing him. "Want to chaperone me back just to make sure I won't run away?" she spat.

Boris grinned and removed the remote control from his pocket. "I trust you to behave."

"I'm glad you have such a deep-rooted 'trust' in me. Do I have the displeasure of seeing you later?"

"Not for a while. I wouldn't want to wear out my welcome."

Vega rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, walking away. She glanced back once and Boris was already gone, the way she preferred it to be.

"Jackass," she whispered under her breath, unable to contain it for another second.

"I was just about to go out and look for you," Misha said as the girl walked into the hotel lobby that would be open to tournament participants for the duration of the competition. He had been standing guard near the revolving doors and fell in behind her as they approached a circle of armchairs.

"Where are Kato and the twins?" Vega asked as untied the half-skirt was around her waist and slung it over the back of an armchair before throwing herself down into the cushioning.

"Finishing their lists."

She could only assume he meant the mental lists made by the four of them upon arrival detailing who they were going to battle or 'monitor'. Stronger teams would be left alone until all the weaker ones were eliminated; strength and weakness would be determined by a whole lot of watching. Vega didn't have the patience for that and she doubted that there were any opponents that she couldn't take down with a bit of finesse.

Except maybe _them_. _They_ always found a way.

She shook the thought off. No… she wasn't safe thinking like that. She could never go back. Not after all of what happened. Not this time.

Jax and Zax came in not much later and found Misha sitting across from Vega, who was staring blankly straight ahead.

"Is she-"

"-Broke?" they asked, raising their eyebrows.

Misha glanced at them and then Vega before reaching over and taking a mint out of a dish on the side table. He threw it at her and her hands snapped up in an instant, catching it. She blinked, her eyes refocusing, and then unwrapped it, popping it into her mouth.

"What'd you two learn today?" Vega asked, turning her focus on the twins.

"That just about every team here has won two or three tournaments," Zax said, sitting down and pushing back his bangs.

"And not just city competition, state and country," Jax added. "At least they'll provide _some_ challenge."

"But not much," Zax snorted and the two grinned.

Vega shrugged and settled back.

"Are you worried?" Jax asked, looking to her.

"Of course she isn't! Where was your brain earlier?" Zax said, cuffing his twin. "She slaughtered those newbs."

The two began to bicker and Misha and Vega simultaneously rolled their eyes. When they weren't finishing one another's thoughts the twins were bickering incessantly and it drove them all a bit crazy.

"Alright, both of you shut up," Vega snapped, glaring at them.

Both looked to her, a little alarmed, and then slumped down, lowering their heads.

"He started it," Zax muttered.

Jax cuffed his brother sharply on the back of the head. "Did not!" he shouted and the ceasefire ended in a brand new barrage of bickering.

"Sonuva," Misha whispered under his breath, running a hand down his face in irritation.

Vega sighed, resting her elbow on the arm of the chair and leaning her head against her palm.

"Hey, Kato!" the twins chirped suddenly and the girl looked over the back of her chair's shoulder as the tallest boy approached.

"Finally," Vega said exasperated. "Where have you been?"

"Staking out two easy wins," he replied with a smirk.

"I saw about three earlier," Misha replied competitively.

Kato rolled his eyes and threw himself down into the last armchair. "How about you Vega?"

"I got us four wins this morning didn't I?" she asked, leaning back. "It seems unfair for every loss to count against the individual. Why is this a team tournament if they're treated separately?"

"It'd be even more unfair if a team didn't reach the finals because one teammate was having a bad day," Kato replied with a shrug. "It makes it convenient for you though... if none of us do well enough to make it to the finals you at least will."

"Then we have to deal with-"

"-Boris on our own," the twins said, simultaneously cringing.

"Why? What happens if any of you lose?" Vega asked, frowning.

Misha shook his head firmly. "It doesn't matter because we're not going to lose," he said quickly.

The girl nodded but her mind reeled a bit as she began imagining just what the punishment for losing was.

_I'll protect them,_ she decided solemnly, looking between the four and then nodding to herself decisively.

(SPACE-SPACE-SPACE)

"The girls told me you'd be here."

Charly looked up from her park bench and smiled faintly. "Hey, Kai."

The boy sat down beside her on the bench and placed an arm across the back of it just above her shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

"Thinking," she replied simply.

He knew that look on her face and frowned a bit. "What's wrong?"

The girl laughed aloud, looking to him with soft, bemused eyes. "How do you always manage to do that?"

"What?"

"See right through me. I can never get away from that."

Kai smirked. "I guess I just know you that well." He brushed some hair back from her face and behind her ear. "Tell me."

Charly sighed. "I don't feel like I'm strong enough to do this."

"You are too," he said, chuckling. "You always do this to yourself; you always think you can't. You're one of the strongest people I know, Charly, you have a lot of heart, and I know that if anyone can do this it's you." He smoothed her hair gently. "I respect you for your strength, there's a reason for that."

She paused a moment before smiling and then laughing. "You're something else."

"That's what they keep telling me."

Charly chuckled. "Thanks, Kai."

He grinned at her awkwardly. "No problem."

"We should probably get back," she said, standing up.

"Yeah," Kai agreed.

He could hear heavy footsteps approaching from down the path and Kai paused briefly as a memory took him. He was a little boy, in the Abbey, he had just failed at something, one of the exercises, and as he fell to his hands and knees on the cold floor he heard heavy, measured footsteps approaching. He looked up into unforgiving, red eyes and then the memory faded quickly and he returned to his wits, the footsteps very near now as they stopped.

"Well isn't this a pretty picture?"

The hairs on the back of Kai's neck all stood on end and he looked to his right, stepping in front of Charly protectively, shielding her with his frame.

Boris stood there, his hands clasped behind his back, grinning.

"Boris!" Kai snarled venomously.

"I'm so glad you remember me, Kai. I was wondering if you would, after all it's been how many years?"

"Not long enough," the boy snapped.

Boris's eyes looked passed him and a half-grin touched his thin lips. "Is that Charly? I admit, you have good taste, Kai, she is very lovely."

Charly bristled and glared but thought it better to be quiet than say anything.

"What do you want?" Kai growled.

Boris shrugged. "Not more than some men but nothing you could give me."

"You're not going to get away with what you've done," the boy replied, his voice igniting with anger. "This is where it ends, Boris!"

A smirk came over the man's lips. "Is that a challenge?" he asked, his voice soft and deadly. "Are you going to stop me, Kai?"

"Whatever it takes," Kai snapped.

Boris laughed aloud, amused and malicious. "Good, good! I'd hate to stand unopposed, that would be so _boring_," he said, sounding delighted. "As much as this is amusing I should be going, I've got things to do and a tournament to win. Would you say hello to the others for me? I wouldn't want them to think that I've forgotten them."

Kai lunged a little as if to go after the man as he turned to walk away but Charly grabbed him quickly by the arm. "No, Kai," she said quickly, shaking her head fiercely. "No. He's not worth it."

Kai looked to her, her eyes pleading fiercely with him, and then he looked to where Boris was disappearing down the walk and sighed, nodding. "Let's get back."

Charly nodded and the two walked off.

(SPACE-SPACE-SPACE)

"Charly."

The girl looked up at Kai as they walked. "What, Kai?"

He glanced down at her. "Can I tell you something?"

She laughed. "Of course, Kai, with everything you have to listen to me complain I think it's about time we changed positions."

Kai smiled briefly but it faded quickly. "I saw this all happening.'

Charly frowned. "What do you mean?"

Kai stopped, looking down at her. "I saw what was going to happen to Vega, I knew it was going to come to this."

"How?"

"I had these dreams… Black Dranzer was trying to warn me about this but I couldn't figure it out in time. If I'd of not ignored them I might've been able to stop everything. I shouldn't have let Vega go," he said, shaking his head. "Not when I felt so strongly against it. I was trying to think that it was just because she was going after Tala but it wasn't. I know that now."

She began shaking her head fiercely. "You can't blame yourself, Kai, it's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped it if you wanted to."

"I could've," he argued fiercely.

Charly gripped his face between her hands. "Look at me, Kai," she demanded in a quiet voice. "You couldn't have done anything. What is to be is to be, you couldn't have changed it. You have to quit blaming yourself! _You're_ the strongest person _I_ know and I know the man that I respect because of his strength would also pick himself up from whatever mistake and fix it."

Kai stared down at her and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, and hugging her tightly.

A little shocked she hugged him back, not used to him being quite so touchy. They had hugged before but somehow this was different, for both of them.

He knew she was right and sighed as he pulled back. "It's late… we need sleep so we can be ready early tomorrow. The other teams won't be out so early so we'll have a chance to scout out the dishes."

(SPACE-SPACE-SPACE)

Vega didn't think she ever saw Misha sleep or even act sleepy. Unlike the other recruits who were yawning and slightly bleary-eyed when they came down to the mess hall for breakfast Misha was stone-faced and icy-toned like he never had to go through the whole process of waking up.

Teams bunked together in suites that were prepared just for them. The hotels that were participating had at least two rooms reserved for whatever teams claimed them first but this had to be done early. They were much more private than safe houses, which usually either had small, uncomfortable cots to lie on or just sleeping bags to pass out. The privacy allowed plotting to go definitely unheard.

Kato slept in the bed across from hers pressed against the other wall and the twins were snoring peacefully in the corner in their own beds.

Misha was on his back, his hands folded on his stomach, lying on top his sheets wearing everything but his boots. His gold eyes bore a hole into the ceiling and as Vega turned her head to look over at him she couldn't help but sigh a little bit. None of them deserved this existence as Boris' sick experiments…

"You should get some sleep," Vega whispered.

He turned his head to look at her. "I'm not tired."

"That's a lie and a sad one at that," she replied, rolling onto her side, pillowing her head on her arm. Her clothes were dead weight hanging over the footboard of her bed and she slept in a body suit with knee-length shorts and thin, tank top-like sleeves made of a fabric like spandex.

Misha turned his eyes back to the ceiling. "I don't sleep much."

Vega knew that the word was really "can't". It was almost impossible to sleep in the prison camp. The halls were hollow and echoed every sound that was breathed in their depths and the entire place seemed dead.

"Try," she suggested softly.

"Last I knew you didn't care about anything… least of all us."

Her relatively neutral expression didn't fade. "A team like ours has only one thing that binds it together."

"What?" he asked, sounding uninterested.

"I'll give you a hint," Vega replied, rolling over onto her other side, "it's not our strength."

Misha turned his head again to look at her but said nothing as he stared at her back and then rolled onto his side so he faced the opposite wall.

_Chaotic G.: Okay so that's 9. REVIEW!!!!_


	10. Deadly Lies

**Chapter 10**

"Good morning, Misha."

The boy stopped dead as he headed for the door of the hotel, determined to be out on the field early, and turned to a wing-backed armchair in the television area.

Vega was sitting there reading a newspaper, fully dressed and appearing a little bored. "Where are you going so early?" she asked.

"What do you think?" he replied.

She laughed, folded her paper and sat it down, looking up at him. "Getting in some early practice? There aren't going to be any teams out this early."

"Except maybe that one team you beat up yesterday," Misha countered.

Vega snorted. "I said 'teams'. Those four are just in a convenient agreement where they have to maybe work together occasionally. A real team is… well… kind of like making a pact."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"It's a promise to always back each other up and to be there, no matter what," Vega replied, closing her eyes as disgust at herself rose in the pit of her stomach. She was such a hypocrite.

"Are we a team?"

Vega looked up at him and shrugged. "That depends on you and the others I guess."

Misha opened his mouth to say something and then, as if deciding against it, shook his head and said nothing.

The girl watched him stand there for a moment, looking thoughtful and then stood up. "I was waiting for one of you to get up so I wouldn't have to go out on my own."

"Scared of crossing the street yourself?" Misha jabbed with a smirk.

Vega grinned. "Yeah, that's it," she replied sarcastically. "C'mon, boy, the others can catch up later."

Her hand slid to the back of his neck and he stiffened for a moment at the feel until she merely pushed him towards the doorway and laughed when he stumbled and shot her a dirty look.

SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE

"Ugh, why do we have to be up this early? The others aren't," Tyson whined as he followed Kai and Charly into the park, Rei, Kenny, and Max not far behind.

"We need an early start today," Kai answered.

"The early bird gets the worm, Tyson," Charly said over her shoulder and smiling at the boy. "Tell you what, for being a good sport breakfast's on me."

This seemed to lift Tyson's spirits as he immediately perked up at the mention of food.

"Well, look who's up."

They halted and Kai shot a daggered glare across the street to the Templars. Tarren was standing with her arms crossed looking upbeat and her male companions shadowed her threateningly.

"Not exactly a face I want to see in the morning," Charly muttered.

"My sentiments exactly," Kai replied as the rival team crossed the street quickly to join them. "What do you want?"

"Hey, chill out blue-boy," Ajax said, eyeing the Bladebreaker captain.

Kai's eyes narrowed dangerously and Charly stepped in before he could say anything. "He's not a morning person," she said quickly.

"He's not much of a person period," Tarren replied rolling her eyes.

Charly raised an eyebrow. "Did you just cross the street to insult us or what?"

"Why miss an opportunity?" Warrick asked with a grin.

"Why don't you take the trash talk elsewhere?" Rei suggested calmly, he and the others looking less than amused.

"Or maybe we should just take out the garbage now?" Tyson suggested under his breath.

"How? It's questionable if the title 'world champions' still fit especially when one of your strongest has already abandoned ship," Tarren said critically, rolling her eyes, "and the only reason the Amazons are different from your dime a dozen, every-day plain Janes to begin with is because they've leeched off of the Bladebreakers all this time."

"Take that back!" Tyson demanded, Max grabbing his arm to keep him from doing something stupid as he lunged forward.

"Don't worry about it, Tyson," Charly said, her eyes burning, "I'm willing to take out the trash. Tarren, you and I, one on one, right now."

Tarren smirked. "Fine."

Kai grabbed Charly's arm when they headed for the park entrance, where the nearest dish was located. "Let me," he hissed.

"No," she said, shaking her head and lifting a hand to squeeze his shoulder. "She's beneath you. I'll handle this."

He paused a moment and then nodded, watching as she approached the dish.

"There's something you can rest assure about," Charly said aloud as she pulled her launcher and Celeste from her pocket.

"That I'll win?" Tarren asked with a grin.

"No… that I'm not going to utterly embarrass your whole team like Vega did… just you. Three."

Tarren's eyes narrowed. "Two."

"_Let it rip!!"_

The blades landed in the dish, Celeste froze in the center, while Tarren's blade began to circle around the dish. Tarren glanced at Charly, who folded her arms and closed her eyes. She smirked watching the Amazon leader.

"Another staller? For the love of god," Ajax commented as he watched Celeste. The other Bladebreakers and Amazons watched in amusement, none of them appearing to be too worried.

"Well this will be that much easier," Tarren replied, "Attack!" Her blade veered down at Celeste, Tarren was about to gloat when Celeste suddenly veered away, making her blade miss. "Damn attack again," her blade obeyed, ducking again for another attack, but like the previous, at the last second Celeste dodged. Tarren's blade attacked again, and again, but every charge was dodged at the last split second.

"Pathetic," Charly spoke, without opening her eyes.

"You're right, you are pathetic, so far you've been only dodging my attacks," Tarren replied.

"I was giving you a chance to realize your stupidity and give up, there is no way you will make contact. But… that wont happen, you're too stupid to realize your own stupidity," Charly replied calmly. "Enough… Celeste!" Energy seemed to stir at Charly feet at the command, flames exploded from Celeste's blade and rose, forming the aura of a phoenix, with a shriek Celeste flew out of her blade. The flames swirled around the dish, the intense heat made the cool air ripple and it seemed to be rising, because soon Tarren was beginning to feel too hot in her coat.

"I believe Tarren… you're out of here!" Tyson called, a huge smile on his face.

"I'm not afraid of a little pyrotechnics show!" Tarren replied, "Attack Archangel!" she commanded. Her blade began to glow.

"Nova Flames," Charly whispered, her eyes opening. The Flames around Celeste suddenly grew more intense, as the energy around Charly kicked up, lifting the trailing wings on her shirt from their dead hang behind her back. "Incinerate her!" the command came louder now, Charly's eyes focused and became cold, a proud, trademark grin appeared on her features.

Celeste shrieked just as Archangel rose, the angel was instantly overwhelmed, the flames exploded outwards and began to swirl slowly. A pain-filled screech echoed, and flames rose, enveloping Archangel and her blade, closing in on her, becoming so intense, that it was impossible to see through them.

Celeste's body seemed to melt away, now becoming flames, only her ethereal onyx eyes remained. Tarren took a step back, horrified, her bit beast suddenly exploded into light sparkles, not even able to launch a single attack. The flames suddenly, spontaneously died. Archangel's blade flew out of the dish like a comet, burning tail and all, landing some feet away from Tarren, mangled and misshapen, the plastic bubbling all over, melted by the sheer heat. The dish was in no better shape. Charly raised her hand and recalled Celeste, who's blade eagerly jumped into her mistress's hand, the bit beast retreating inside in a flash of light and flames.

"Out of my sight now, and If I ever hear you diss my team again… as the lord is my witness, I will do more than damage your blade, I will vaporize it," Charly threatened.

"You got served," Rei commented, smirking faintly. The group turned around and walked off.

Charly looked over at Kai as the two of them lead the pack. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?" he asked innocently.

"If I needed a boost of energy from Dranzer I'd of asked," she replied, reflecting back on how much power Celeste had used in her attack.

Kai glanced to her but said nothing.

Vega glanced over at Misha whose eyes had minutely widened and she refocused her gaze on the others, her eyes connecting with Kai's and something briefly passed between them before she looked away. "There's our real competition," she said softly.

"I can see why you two became teammates," Misha replied and then glanced over at her. "Do you regret agreeing to be on our team?"

Vega frowned. "I regret how it came about," she murmured, crossing her arms.

"Nothing else?"

"If you're trying to get me to admit I regret knowing you or Kato or Jax and Zax," she began, fixing her eyes on him, "I'm not going to because I don't."

His brows knitted together as he looked to her sharply. "What? Why not?"

Vega shrugged and reached over ruffling his hair. "Mostly because I know that that's what you want," she said, grinning and then turned to walk away. "And you don't deserve it. C'mon, let's go get something to eat, I bet whatever we could get around here will be much better than that slop Boris has been feeding us."

"At least it's food," Misha muttered.

"Food? That man can't tell the truth about anything," Vega said, shaking her head. "It's sludge, scraped from the bottom of the sewer I bet."

"Didn't need that mental image, Vega," Misha snarled.

Vega didn't respond, instead she stopped dead and Misha followed her gaze across the street, spotting what she was staring at.

The Demolition Boys stood there, Tala staring unblinkingly at them. Brian looked angry but his glare was focused on Misha not the girl and Ian and Spencer stood nearby, saying something quietly to their captain.

"You miss them don't you?" Misha asked softly. He might not have been too well-up on emotions himself but he could tell how pained she was even through her blank façade. The way her eyes locked with Tala's was deep and went to a level he couldn't understand.

"I think," she said quietly, breaking the eye contact she held with Tala and looking down, "we shouldn't talk about that."

She slid a hand to cup the back of his neck again and pushed him forward.

"You can't totally blank like that every time you see her, Tala," Brian said once she was gone.

"But out, Brian," Tala snapped.

Brian shook his head and started walking again. "Let's go."

SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE

"Having fun are you?"

Kato, Jax, and Zax all stopped dead when they spotted Boris leaning against the wall of a building just ahead of them.

None of them spoke.

"What are you doing just walking around?" he asked, his voice deadly.

"We're looking for Misha and Vega," Kato replied.

"They're together?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you sure?"

Kato hesitated a second. "No, sir."

Boris nodded slowly and straightened to stand directly in front of them. "Kato, what was your assignment since day one that Vega joined us?"

The boy winced. "To remain with her at all times."

"Exactly," the man said. "Why aren't you now?"

Kato sighed. Boris wasn't looking for an excuse to answer that question. "I'm sorry, sir."

Boris said nothing and glanced between the three of them. "I expect you to know whether or not she's made contact with any of her old teammates or if they have tried to reach her?"

Kato's mind flipped briefly to the promise he had made Vega to not say anything to Boris about Tala having come after her.

_"If he asks I'm not going to lie."_

_"I wouldn't want you to."_

"Kato?"

The boy met his caretaker's gaze and exhaled slowly. "She hasn't, sir."

Boris stared at him critically for a while and then nodded. "Very good." He turned on his heel and without another word headed off down the street.

The twins let breaths they had been holding and then looked to Kato. "You-"

"-Lied."

"Yes, I did," he agreed with a nod.

The two looked at one another and shrugged.

SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE-SPACE

Vega watched from the sidelines as Misha took on a team she had seen around only once or twice but wasn't familiar with.

His strength impressed her and obviously Boris had trained him well. Ryoseraph, his bit beast, was a komodo dragon, enormous and weighty with powerful jaws, dangerous talons, and an armor plated body. His main attack was a gaseous noxious cloud of poison that was foul and deadly but the pressure the beast's bite created was almost equally deadly.

Ryoseraph was vicious like Misha but obedient and surprisingly fast despite his size and weight.

The girl raised a hand to cover her mouth and nose as the lizard exhaled green fumes that quickly spread. Misha, having little control over where his bit beast's attack went, had already covered his face.

The opponent, distracted by his own blade's failing attempts in battle, didn't catch on until it was too late and the gas was making him and his bitbeast cough.

"Bravo," Vega said once Misha was finished and approaching her. "I'm _so_ impressed."

"Shut up," he grumbled, eyeing her.

She grinned and ruffled his hair with one hand. "C'mon, let's-"

"Vega!"

The girl turned and smiled minutely. "Well, it's about time you three caught up with us," she said as Kato and the twins jogged towards them and then stopped.

"Did you know that Boris was hanging around?" Kato asked abruptly.

"Yes, I know," Vega replied, her expression souring at the thought of the man. "We had a… chat last night."

"Kato lied to him," Jax piped up.

She frowned deeply and looked up at the boy. "What? What about?"

"It's no big-"

"Boris wanted to know if you had any contact with your old teammates," Zax said, crossing his arms. "Tala did come after you right?"

Vega nodded. "Yes, he did, but Kato you said-"

"It's nothing Vega," the boy cut her off, giving her a silencing look.

"It is something," she hissed back, "you said-"

"I changed my mind."

"If he finds out he'll kill you and I don't really mean that figuratively," Vega snapped.

Kato shook his head. "I don't care."

Vega was about to argue when Misha cut in. "Can we get going?" he snapped. "I've got teams to waste."

"Yeah, we all do, I want to see Kaosu blow up another tree," Jax said excitedly.

"I want to see him tear up a dish like the world tournament," Zax put in zealously and both grinned at Vega.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities," she replied distractedly, giving Kato a sideways look and then nodding at them.


	11. Truces

**Chapter 11**

Chaotic G: I'm SORRY! This update is SO late. I got tangled up in some other stuff and then I kept getting sidetracked and… oh well it's all in the past! Here is 11! (And I so better get reviews)

_ Black hair was sprawled out over the pillow, black ink, dripping and spilling over his chest. Fingers entwined, bodies pressed together, breaths being shared, blissful, absolute silence in the peaceful dimness of the morning._

_ It was over._

_ It was all over._

_ Boris was gone, the tournament won, and the evil plot foiled._

_ Vega was alive and well and lying beside him. Real, warm…_his.

_ The only person he had wanted, that he had been separated and then kept from was there. Vega's breath was warm on his neck and her hand smooth and delicate caged within his._

_ He leaned to press his lips to the top of her head. This was real… there was no way that this could've been-_

A dream

Tala reached for Vega but found that she was not there. He opened his eyes and looked about and then pieced it together through his grogginess.

A wonderfully real, painfully false dream.

Tala had woken to reality. Boris was still a very real threat, there were battles to be fought, and Vega was still in danger.

Tala fell back into his pillows and covered his face. It had felt so great. Why did he have to wake up!

He felt rage for a moment and then it dissipated at a thought.

Vega would, eventually, be his. That dream would, someday, come true, he swore it silently. She had not given up on him and he would not leave her behind. Their fates were one; he knew that, he wouldn't be punished to go through this life empty, with a part of him, a large part, missing.

Boris would not steal his happiness the same way he had stolen his childhood and life.

(Space-Space-Space-Space)

"It's stupid how I'm acting over her… isn't it?"

Kai was standing in the doorway that led out onto the balcony just behind Tala, who was sitting in a lounge chair, looking serious and morose. It was still very early and no one else was awake. Kai had heard Tala stomping around his room angrily and decided to see what argument they could get into.

"It's stupid how we all act over them," Kai answered, shrugging. "Girls have that affect I guess."

"But it's stupid how I'm worrying about Vega… I mean she was the one protecting me during our battles at the tournament," Tala muttered.

"Because she cared," Kai added.

"And that's another thing… she cares but that doesn't mean squat, she was coming to reconcile with me, not to stay. I'm getting my hopes up thinking she'd have me even as her friend."

"I never thought I'd see the day where you were sulking over a girl, of all creatures," Kai said with a smirk.

"I never thought I'd see the day where I let myself sulk over a girl," Tala retorted angrily. "I was better off before she came around, you know, because then I wouldn't be dealing with you or the others now."

"Been there, done that," Kai replied, shaking his head. "I thought that a hundred times about the girls... even about the Bladebreakers. Believe me; it won't make you feel any better."

Tala sighed.

Kai was right, even if Tala would rather eat glass than tell his one-time teammate, full-time rival so. He wouldn't have been better off not meeting Vega.

"How do you do it, Kai?" Tala asked quietly.

"Do what?"

"How do you put up with this 'feeling' crap? It's just a bunch of hassle," the Russian spat in semi-disgust.

Kai grinned. "You get used to it."

"And get soft like you? I hope not."

"Sometimes being soft has its perks."

Silence followed this for a long moment and then Kai finally spoke up again. "How about a truce?" It was something Charly had urged him to do since Vega returned from Team Germany.

Tala let the words hang for a moment. "Assuming we could put aside some sort of natural law and do that… why would I make a truce with you?"

"To make this tournament a little easier. I'd say we have enough competition without being in competition with each other," Kai answered with a shrug. "Unless you couldn't handle that."

Tala scowled a little but swung his legs over the side of the lounge chair to look at Kai sternly for a moment and then hold out a hand.

The Bladebreaker took his rival's hand solemnly and they shook.

"Don't think this means that we're friends," Tala said, pulling his hand away and crossing his arms.

"That'd be a cold day in hell," Kai replied before turning and leaving.

Tala returned to his chair, folding his arms as he laid his head back.

It was a weight off both their shoulders.

(Space-Space-Space-Space)

_"Tala, I'm sorry! No!"_

Vega jumped up in bed with a shriek, raking her fingers back through her hair as she scrambled to the head of her bed and pulled her knees to her chest, leaning her forehead down to her thighs.

The dream rushed back to her.

It had been dark and there were just flashes of light and images of the others, their expressions, and their reactions to her betrayal.

Tala had been there and just as she reached for him he fell back into the dark and then there was nothing and she was alone in the echoing silence.

"Vega!"

Someone was prying her fingers from her hair as she shook her head fiercely and fought with them. "No! I won't lose him! Let me go! Leave me alone!" Her thoughts were muddled and her mind hazy with the dream and the sleep she had not yet wiped entirely from her.

"Vega!" the voice was rougher this time, demanding, and as she came to her senses she realized that it was Kato, his strong hands pulling at her wrists, trying to undo her from the ball she had curled herself up into.

Vega was startled when he finally wrenched her hands away from her face and she was staring at him. She hadn't realized how hard she had been gripping her skull but when she looked at her hands there was blood beneath her nails.

Misha was standing at the end of her bed, his expression expressionless but his eyes holding a concerned shine. The twins were at her side, leaning close and peering at her with their neon eyes like cats. Their worry was much more evident in their faces.

Her hands began to shake in Kato's grip as she ducked her head and her hair fell forward like a curtain. The four boys watched as teardrops slowly hit the comforter and they all looked at one another.

None of them knew how to handle this.

"Vega," Zax said tentatively.

"Don't…" Jax began, but trailed off.

They looked to Kato.

Kato caught their stares but wasn't sure what to do. He spent the most time with her but he was just as clueless as they were.

"Get ready to leave."

Her voice came out steady but she didn't meet their gazes.

The twins and Misha looked to Kato, who nodded, and then went about their preparations for the day.

Kato remained by the girl's side, perched on the edge of her bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly. "Get ready to leave."

"No."

Her eyes met his, a little blood-shot around the blue and watery and then she hugged him. Her arms squeezing him around his waist and her face pressed into his shoulder.

Kato froze for an instant, his blood running cold, every instinct instilled in him at the camp telling him to get away but he placed a hand on her shoulder gently and leaned his forehead down to touch to top of her head.

It was a strange feeling and one that scared him a little… up until when she pulled away and it felt as though ice water had been dumped over him.

He missed the contact the second it was gone, even though it troubled him. It felt as though for an instant he was receiving something he had been lacking, a part of him was satisfied and for a moment filled.

Vega was out of bed in a second, rubbing at her eyes in annoyance, fixing her hair and tucking it behind the wing extensions of the headpiece.

Kato ignored the looks of the others as he stood and went about getting ready.

(Space-Space-Space-Space)

"Check this out," Cleo said as she and the Amazons approached a dish centered in a back alley between two buildings.

The Vanguard twins were having it out with two members from another team. They watched as their bits, two oriental dragons attacked relentlessly. They were identical except one was fiery red with a golden under belly and a long row of spikes its back engulfed in flames and the other was yellowish in color with electricity constantly pulsing from the antenna that flowed back from his forehead.

The two worked perfectly in sync as they twisted and dodged around their opponents and attacked.

"They're impressive aren't they?"

All five turned and spotted Vega standing pressed to the wall, her head bowed and her eyes closed.

"Vega-" Charly began, but was cut off by the girl.

"Don't waste your breath, Charly," Vega said softly, raising her eyes to meet theirs. "And don't waste your time."

The meaning was known to all of them present.

Charly shook her head. "We're not giving up on you."

"Is it your stubbornness or your stupidity that's making you persist?" Vega asked, her eyes narrowing and growing icy. "Just leave me be."

"I know that's not you talking, Vega," Charly said quietly. "I don't know what Boris has done to you but I'm not going to let him do anymore."

The girl closed her eyes. "Maybe I don't want to be saved. Maybe this is where I belong."

"I know where you belong!" Charly shouted, her eyes igniting as she clenched her fists. "You're an Amazon, Vega, not Boris' newest play-thing! You belong with us and the Bladebreakers and the D-boys and Tala!"

Vega opened her eyes but didn't look at them, instead she turned her gaze to the twins. "Jax, Zax, quit playing games! Finish them and let's go!"

The twins looked over at her. "Aww, c'mon, Vega-"

"-We never get to have this much fun!"

"Now, you two!" she barked.

Charly reached out and placed a hand on Vega's shoulder. "This isn't you, Vega," she said quietly. "You're better than this, better than Boris… or have you forgotten everything? You never gave up on me, Vega, I'm not going to give up on you."

"Even if I'm only a shadow of what I was?" Vega asked as she reached up to push Charly's hand away but found that it was already gone. She turned and watched the five of them walk away.

_Thank you,_ she thought.

"Vega?"

She glanced back at the twins, who were peering at her curiously.

"Do we have-"

"-To tell Boris?" they asked.

"Have to?" she wondered.

"Kato-"

"-Didn't."

"Kato also lied," Vega said, reaching out and running her fingers gently back through Jax's hair, and the doing the same to Zax. "Lying isn't a good thing."

They looked confused but not disturbed by the touch.

"Even when it helps someone?" Jax asked.

"We're not stupid, we know what he'll do," Zax added.

"We don't want you to get hurt."

Vega blinked once as she stared at them but her expression softened a little. "Don't worry about me," she said.

"We're not going to-"

"-Let anyone take you away."

She watched as they turned and headed in the other direction before following them slowly. What scared her most was the fact that they meant it.

(Space-Space-Space-Space)

Tala lurked around a corner as he watched Vega approached with one twin on either side of her.

He frowned a little at what he saw. Her arms were around their shoulders and they were talking quietly.

She smiled and he couldn't help but grin a little himself. He missed that smile.

He stepped out once they grew near enough and Vega stopped dead and exhaled slowly as their eyes locked.

"Tala…" she said softly, trailing off and shaking her head.

"Vega, don't run," Tala commanded gently, holding up his hands.

Vega hated to see that look in his eyes.

"Leave her alone!" Zax said, stepping in front of Vega, his twin following suit.

A hand came down on Vega's shoulder and she closed her eyes and quit breathing hoping and praying it wasn't who she thought.

"I've already lied for you once, Vega, don't push it."

She exhaled slowly. "I thought you had business with Misha on the other side of town," she said, looking up and back at Kato.

"I finished early," he replied, his eyes focused solidly on Tala in a glare, which was returned with equal venom.

"Record time," Vega murmured.

"I want to talk to her alone," Tala said, already knowing the answer.

"If you think you can get through us," Kato began, with a small smirk, "go ahead and try."

"That attitude could get you killed," Tala growled.

Kato's smirk widened. "Is that a threat?"

"It can very easily become a promise," the Russian replied.

Kato opened his mouth to say something but Vega placed a hand tenderly on his chest to stop him and he glanced down at her and watched as she removed her hand and then maneuvered past the twins to stand just in front of Tala.

"Stop following me," she ordered, her voice firm and steady.

"I refuse to lose," Tala said, keeping eye contact with her.

"You lost to Kai and Charly."

"I did… and I've gotten over it but there was only pride on the line then," he murmured. "I have a lot more to lose now that can't be replaced like ego."

Vega stared at him for another moment and then turned and headed back to the twins, who fell in behind her as she walked.

Kato glared Tala down a bit longer before turning and trotting to catch up to the girl, placing an arm around her waist as they walked and pulling her minutely closer.

Vega sighed and leaned her head against him as she stared down at the sidewalk.

Tala watched with hate boiling inside of him at the sight of Kato's arm around Vega's waist. The trainee was just doing that to spite him.

Which was a mistake.

Vega glanced back in time to see Tala's look of hurt and anger and realized then that she had been right all along.

Tala, with his eyes narrowed in contempt, jealously, and hurt, still cared and had not betrayed her.

At that thought a part of her jumped for joy.

(Space-Space-Space-Space)

"What we can be grateful for is that she didn't appear hurt," Cleo said quietly as she and Lily and Charly sat around a table in a café.

Brian was leaning against the back of her chair as Tala hovered nearby with his arms crossed.

"But she looked so dead," Charly murmured as she stared down at her coffee.

"Boris' training will do that… but it might be for the best," Brian replied. "It means she's trying to keep it together."

"Brian!" Cleo said admonishingly. "Vega's not unstable."

"Maybe not when she went in," Brian replied bitterly. "But she's not going to come out the same person."

"At least she's safe… for the moment," Lily put in.

"She'll be safe for as long as we need her to be," Tala spoke up suddenly and the others turned to look at him.

"What's that mean?" Charly asked.

Tala folded his arms and looked to her. "I caught up to her just after you left her in the alley. She was with the twins and that trainee Boris made her bodyguard. They're very… attached to her."

Brian frowned. "What makes you think that?"

Tala chuckled. "The twins tried to 'defend' her from me and they meant it. They thought I was going to hurt her or… take her away." He smirked a little. "I bet Boris didn't count on that."

"And the one who's playing bodyguard?" Brian asked.

Tala's looked darkened. "Kato? He's attached as well… but in a different way. He's even more protective and it's not all out of duty."

"He likes her," Lily mused with a smile. "That's sort of cute."

"It's sort of disgusting," Tala snapped, glaring at her.

"Aww, are you jealous?" Charly teased.

"Don't go there," Tala said dangerously.

Charly looked to the others, holding her hands up defensively and then biting her lip a little. "So what does this mean?"

"It means Vega's put a virus in Boris' little system. Those four aren't supposed to feel, just like we weren't… they do now," Brian explained, crossing his arms. "It means Vega has four less things to worry about, especially if they become more loyal to her than Boris."

"It can't be that easy," Cleo said, shaking her head.

"It's not," Tala replied. "But Vega indulges them. She knows how to win them over to her side… though I'm not sure about Misha. He's pretty dedicated to Boris… he's not the oldest but he's probably been there the longest… that's the only explanation for it."

Brian shook his head. "Pondering over it now is useless and it's not going to get us anywhere. I'm done with the break; I'm going to go find Ian and Spencer."

"I'll come with you," Tala said.

"We should probably find Hikaru and Takara. The battles they were finishing up are probably over now," Charly said as she and Lily and Cleo stood. "How many wins do you guys have."

"Varied," Brian replied, "you?"

"The same," Charly replied, nodding. "Because everything's scored individually we have to keep a close tally on it. We'll meet you guys back at the hotel tonight, okay?"

The two nodded before leaving.

"Tala seemed bothered by what he said about Kato," Lily murmured.

Charly shrugged. "He's being paranoid. C'mon, we've got to go. There are butts to be kicked!"

"Kato!"

Vega sat up in bed as the twins helped him in through the door, which Jax kicked shut behind them.

"What happened?" she asked.

The twins helped him to his bed, which he collapsed on but said nothing to explain.

Vega frowned as she examined Kato. The right portion of his face was a little swollen, blood coming from a split in his lip, his cheek bruised, and his eye blackened.

"His ribs are sensitive too," Jax added.

"Who did this?"

The twins glanced at one another and then down and up to avoid her eyes.

Vega reached over and grabbed them both by the chins. "Who?" she asked.

They swallowed hard and then answered in unison, "Boris."

Chaotic G: REVIEW! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!


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